The Penrose Triangle
by ALadyofStardust
Summary: Sarah Williams has been preparing for war against the Goblin Kingdom. Until one day she wakes up as the Goblin Queen. But the Goblin King is nowhere to be found, and his subjects don't seem to remember him at all. But Sarah does, and he's sending her letters.
1. A Pound of Flesh

_If you're never sorry, then you can't be forgiven_

 _If you're not forgiven, then you can't be forgotten_

 _If you're not forgotten, then you can live forever_

 _If you live forever, then you'll begin to dream_

\- Pound of Flesh: Regina Spektor

* * *

Nobody saw the raven, dark in the moonlight, black against the stars, nobody heard her as she glided over on silent wings of velvet. Nobody except Sarah that is. Sarah watched as the raven settled on the tree branch just outside her bedroom window. As it had done every night for the past three weeks. This might not be cause for pause in someone with a normal past and an expectation of a normal future. But Sarah was not that person and the raven worried her deeply. Especially that part about the normal future. Because she was pretty dead set on that. So like any other good normal person, she decided to ignore the problem and hope it went away. Eventually that raven was going to get bored and see that she was not the girl it thought she was. That is, if her hunch about it being less a raven and another magical problem waiting to happen, was correct. This is the one time Sarah thought, she'd be ecstatic to be proven wrong.

Sarah gave one last look at the raven before grabbing her gym bag and heading out the door. Fall in Upper Nyack usually meant the sun wasn't up until well after 6am and it was still dark by the time she reached the gym's side door. Sarah had moved back into her parent's old house after finishing college. Her father had gotten a job offer across the country and needed to move quickly. Initially Sarah was just supposed to help them sell the house but her father decided that it made more sense for her to live there while she was working so close by. Initially this had worked out great for her, but after seeing that raven she couldn't help but think that the smart thing to do would have been to get as far away from that house as possible.

Sarah rustled through her bag before pulling out a key and letting herself in. It was dead silent and completely empty inside – just how she liked it. She headed off to change and warm up before Emma arrived. Carefully wrapping her knuckles, she approached the punching bag and began the drills her trainer had taught her.

Ten years ago after her last magical mishap, Sarah had come out both alive and the victor. Which was great, for a while. She had the friends she made along the way, she had her brother back, and yeah the happily ever after was a work in progress, but it was at least peaceful. But then her friends started letting details slip. How Sir Didymus was being called to the guard or Ludo helping build the walls higher and Hoggle was siphoning off fairy poison for rations. Eventually Sir Didymus explained that war was on the horizon and that the Labyrinth and all the Goblin Kingdom was preparing for battle. That was the last she'd heard from any of her friends, five years ago. She did not need to be told twice what Sir Didymus' message imparted. The war had to be with her, and The Goblin King was coming for her and Toby and he was rallying an army. Sarah knew that was why her friends communication had stopped. No way would the Goblin King allow them to continue to communicate with the enemy. She desperately hoped they were safe, but trusted they were. The Goblin King was a lot of things but he wasn't stupid. There was no way he would kill them. Not if he wanted leverage.

At least, she was pretty sure he wouldn't.

But they were on the other side of the mirror and Sarah had no intention of going back there, at least, not without a fight.

So Sarah had done the only thing she could think to do, she'd begun training at the local fitness centre. She was tired of feeling helpless and was done with playing nice. The last time she didn't really have a choice about going in blind, but that wouldn't be happening again. Sarah didn't have much in the way of combat skills, as middle class suburbia didn't really lend itself to deadly battles, but she was determined as hell. She'd arrive every morning before work and head straight to the basement, where the fighters trained. After a particularly volatile session with a kick boxing stand, Emma took notice of her rage and assumed there was a good reason for all of Sarah's aggression. Emma offered to let Sarah come in early and train with her, before the gym officially opened and the jockstraps took over the arena.

In the time since, she and Emma had begun a friendship, albeit confined within the walls of the gym. She'd eventually given Sarah a key to come and go as she pleased, but every day Emma would arrive at 6am and help Sarah train. She'd once asked Sarah why she needed to learn to fight so badly and Sarah weighed her options and had told her the truth.

She told her the _whole_ truth of it. Complete with the wishing, the kings, and dreams trapped in crystals. The worst case scenario is Emma would think she was completely crazy and kick her out. Best case, she'd help her train harder. The reality was somewhere in between. Sarah could tell Emma didn't believe her, but she believed that Sarah believed, and that was good enough.

Emma's specialty was hand-to-hand close combat, so Sarah did the most training there. But she also wanted to learn to sword fight and some archery skills. Her line of thinking being somewhere along the lines of, if you're going to a magical medieval land, you probably need to know some magical medieval fighting skills. So Emma brought out the fencing equipment and archery targets once a week for Sarah to practice on. Her archery skills were very much still lacking even five years later, but she was good enough at fencing to best Emma every time. This morning it was boxing. Sarah didn't really think she'd ever be punching the Goblin King in the nose, but if she ever got the chance she was sure as hell taking it.

"What I don't get," Emma asked as she held up the mitts for Sarah to attack, "is why he cares so much about you. I mean, there's gotta be others who kicked his ass before. Why the grudge against your family specifically?"

Sarah jabbed the pads a few times.

"It's not that simple. I don't think it's about my family. I think it's about me. When it was down to the wire and he was saying anything he could to trick me and convince me to stay, it felt personal." Sarah remembered the way he had looked at her as she ran through the Esher room, how he had yelled at her. Like it suddenly wasn't about Toby at all. That she had captured his attention beyond her brother. Toby wasn't even mentioned in his final speech to her. A part of her had always wondered if Toby was even part of his offering. If she could have taken her dreams and gotten Toby back. Of course she hadn't thought twice about it in the moment - it wasn't worth the risk.

"Okay, say it was about you. Why you? Because you made him look stupid?"

Sarah laughed and gave the mitts a few more whacks.

"I think that's part of it yeah. Though I asked Hoggle about it once, like about why they were able to still visit me. He said he didn't know. But that I was the first one to beat the Labyrinth so that probably had something to do with it. So even if it's not about me, it is about the fact that I beat his Labyrinth. I'm the only one to beat it - that changes things. Maybe it had to end with one of us dying and he's coming back to seal the deal? I don't know. I just know that whatever it is, it's not over."

Emma held up her hand to indicate Sarah needed to stop. It was 7:30 and Sarah needed to shower off and get to work.

"Okay, but what if this is all because he's in love with you? I mean, that last speech?" Emma mocked fanning herself. "Pretty heavy."

Sarah scoffed and peeled the battered tape away from her knuckles.

"Not even. Trust me, he tried that. I saw his face in the ballroom. That was calculation, not love. What are fifteen year old girls more susceptible to than love? It's was all bullshit Em."

Emma shrugged.

"I get that. Sometimes all it's only ever manipulation."

"Yeah, and it's a lesson I'm not interested in learning twice." Sarah grabbed her bag and headed to the showers. "I'll see you tomorrow Em. I really need to improve my long distance shooting range."

"Yeah I'll haul out the targets."

Sarah normally preferred to walk to work instead of driving. It was only a couple blocks from the gym and while it was a bit damp and gloomy out, Octobers were always too short for her liking and she wanted to take advantage of the nice weather. But as she walked she couldn't help but feeling she was being watched. She looked up and scanned the sky for any errant ravens but the only soul for miles was a young redheaded woman reading a book on the other side of the street. That damn bird was getting to her. Though Sarah argued she had reason to be paranoid after all she'd been through.

The day passed uneventfully enough. Sarah worked for a small law firm as a paralegal during the days. She was good at her job because it was just that, a job. She did it because it was decent enough money and it didn't require much from her other than time. Her mental energy had been focused on other things for a while now and until that particular issue was resolved, Sarah did not feel equipped to spend time worrying about a career.

When she'd started college she'd thought seriously about working at a major publishing house, moving to the city, and writing her own novels in the evening. She had a plan and it was a good one. She had no idea if it was going to make her happy but she had to try. The world was too big to give up living in it. But for the last five years she had felt stuck. Stuck in this town, stuck in her job, stuck trying to fight a war she didn't know the rules of or how to win.

She'd thought about moving away. Of going to the city anyways. But it was a silly idea. Wherever she went she knew he could find her. The only thing she had on her side was that he didn't know she was prepared this time. That she wouldn't be pushed into it like some lost and lonely little girl. That wasn't her anymore. She knew this town and its people like the back of her hand. If he was here, if he was watching her, she'd know immediately. He had taken far more from her than thirteen hours. She was not interested in just giving up now and letting him win. Somewhere along the line there'd be another girl who might not be as lucky or resourceful as her. Sarah would not let that girl suffer like she had.

That evening, Sarah began her ritual of getting ready for bed. She meticulously covered up every mirror in the house and double-checked all the doors and windows were locked. She kept reflective surfaces in her house to an absolute minimum, she wasn't taking any chances. Her friends had never been able to come through the mirror, but just because they couldn't didn't mean someone or something else wasn't. The only mirror she still had left was the one that had been in her childhood bedroom. She covered it up with the sheet and sighed. It made her sad to do it. Sarah knew this meant her friends couldn't come and visit her, but they'd been missing for years now, and as much as she wanted to believe otherwise, she very much doubted they were coming back.

Sarah climbed into bed and closed her eyes and waited for the darkness. In the ten years since her run through the Labyrinth, Sarah had not had a single dream. When she had returned, she found all her dreams missing and she knew exactly the culprit. When he had offered her dreams, she didn't understand that he was being quite literal. She had refused her dreams, so they were gone. No more dreams. Traded instead for the life and happiness of her baby brother. Only blackness awaited her when she slept now. Sarah had almost grown used to it. No dreams to betray her thoughts and her mission. No dreams where the thoughts that absently flitted through her head during the day could come out and evolve into full-blown fantasies. No, it was better this way.

Except after ten years, tonight her dreams came back, and they came back with Him.

They were standing in his castle, she knew this though it was a room she had never seen. It was his bedroom. Exactly as dramatic and overdone as she would have imagined it. The room was probably bigger than her entire apartment, with a giant four poster bed in the center. There was a stone fireplace at the foot of the bed and above it featured a portrait of herself and Jareth. His arms were entwined around her. She wore a deep red dress and an amulet hung around her neck. An imperious expression on her face to match the bronze circlet on her head, Jareth wore a matching one. But there was something else there, beyond the arrogance, she could feel the happiness in her eyes staring back at her. It should have frightened her, but Sarah found herself unable to feel anything but content about it.

She sat in a large armchair in the corner by the bookshelf. In her hand was an old, heavy book written in a strange language that Sarah had never seen before in her life. Even so, she found she could read it. Without reason, the words filled her head. Writing about places she'd never heard of but could somehow remember and people whose names meant nothing but faces she could see perfectly. Sarah placed the book down on the armchair and moved over to the large window. From it she could see the entire Labyrinth. But more than that, she _felt_ the Labyrinth. Felt it changing, growing, and the life that pulsed within it. It was almost a second heartbeat, beating alongside her own. She reached down and found the source at the heavy pendant around her neck. She'd seen one just like it before, ten years ago, around the neck of the Goblin King.

Sarah closed her eyes and tried to focus on the Labyrinth. Tried to tune out all the noise of its movements and creatures to just feel it. She outstretched her thoughts like fingers grasping at its pulse. It felt like life. Deep in her gut and tingling at the tips of her fingers, there was the Labyrinth. With all its weird and wonderful strangeness, it was a part of her.

Sarah was so focused on the Labyrinth she almost didn't notice when a pair of arms wrapped around her and a voice whispered into her ear.

"Come to bed my love."

Sarah turned her head slightly and smiled. The Goblin King looked down on her affectionately. He kissed her gently on the lips and Sarah found herself happily kissing him back. It felt strange. Both new and familiar at the same time. Some part of her was screaming that this wasn't right, but she didn't care. It felt strangely like home. Sarah turned around and wrapped her arms around Jareth's neck.

"I can't," she heard herself saying. "I need to finish reading about the Redlands before the small council meeting tomorrow. Their request is serious and I need to determine if there has been precedent."

Jareth leaned in and laid kisses along her neck.

"If I say sod it let them take the tithe will you come to bed then?"

Sarah smiled and pulled his face up to hers.

"We cannot ignore important diplomatic matters just because you're more interested in getting me into bed then doing the research."

Jareth leaned down and kissed the corner of her mouth.

"I'm not ignoring it. I'm saying yes. Say yes with me Sarah. It's such a lovely word. Yes, yes, yesss."

Sarah kissed him back and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. His hands running down her back and pulling her close against him.

"Fine yes," she murmured as he pulled her by the waist towards the bed. "Yes, yes, yesss."

Sarah laughed as they tumbled onto the bed. Looking down she saw the Goblin King looking back up at her. His mismatched eyes sparked with affection. There was no malice there. Only love. Love for her.

It scared her enough to wake her up. Jolting bolt upright in bed, Sarah clutched her heart, trying to slow her breathing, among other things. What the hell was that? What had just happened? She hadn't dreamed in ten years and suddenly she was dreaming _that_? Of all things? Why were her dreams back? What did it mean?

She was so startled that it took her a minute to realize. She was not in her bedroom. She was not in her nightdress.

No, Sarah thought. She was in the bedroom from the dream. His bedroom. And around her neck was his pendant. Beating just as it had in the dream, with the heart of the Labyrinth.

It was happening. She was back.

* * *

A/N: So! This has been some time coming. This story is more than three years in the making. Which means a wordpad file that's almost fifty pages long, countless scribbled post-its and scrawled lines in notebooks. Probably too much time at work thinking about this story and definitely too many playlists.

A couple of things!

1\. This will be long. It may take me some time between chapters. I promise I've not quit, I just suck sometimes. Feel free to message me your vitrol. I probably deserve it.

2\. Yeah, I'm going to have a song lyric or poem before the start of each chapter. I love it and it helps set the tone. Sue me. The movie was a musical, I'm adding music.

3\. I'm Canadian which means I use the Queen's English. I am attempting to do American spelling (as Sarah is American) but I may miss a few. My autocorrect has been trained too well.

4\. If you're from my tumblr you've probably seen me subtly referencing this story in the tags for months.

5\. I used to be Amorfati1013, now I'm not.

6\. I put a lot of references to obscure backstory and other stories in here.

Buckle up and get ready to roll kids.


	2. Hand with a Reflecting Sphere

_I did not design this game_

 _I did not name the stakes_

 _I just happen to like apples_

 _and I am not afraid of snakes_

\- Ani DiFranco: _Adam and Eve_

* * *

Sarah cursed her own stupidity. Sure, she'd covered up every mirror in sight, but she'd left her mind open and vulnerable. Just the way he wanted it. She hadn't even thought that he'd get her this way. Live without dreams for ten years and you stop worrying about them and the consequences they bring. She'd practically rolled out the red carpet for him. So much for not going without a fight.

So she was back. In the Labyrinth, and evidently in his bed. But that was the worst thing, that right before she'd woken up, she'd wanted to be nowhere else then there in his arms. She'd felt…she didn't really want to think about how she felt. Her instincts at that time were to kiss him. Ten years of loathing and planning ways to hurt him and in her dreams she was kissing him. This was just like the ballroom all over again. He'd made her want him, and for that, he'd pay.

Sarah carefully slipped out of bed and turned to look out the window. It was the same window she'd be standing at in her dream. There it was, the Labyrinth, just as she'd remembered it and just as she'd dreamt it. She felt the beat of it against her chest, in the center of the pendant. It almost hurt, but a good kind of hurt. The kind of hurt that felt like safety and comfort at the same time.

" _It's protecting me_ ," Sarah thought quietly to herself. She gently reached down and touched the pendant. It wasn't the same one from her dream. It was exactly like the Goblin King's. In her dream, hers had been different, smaller and more delicate. This looked identical to his, complete with the joined spirals wrapping in the middle. She debated taking it off but realized she didn't want to. It was comforting in a weird, unexplainable way. Besides, what if this was his pendant? And if it was, what was she doing wearing it?

It was just one of the many questions Sarah felt herself turning over in her mind. The one she was having the hardest time resolving was her own…reactions in the dream. It had felt like an out of body experience. She was still in her own mind, but her actions and feelings were not her own. Like she was reliving a very vivid memory. Maybe she had grown out of experience with dreams, but she did not remember them being anything like that. It felt wrong – it had felt _real_.

A less pressing question, though still concerning, was how she'd somehow been changed out of her pyjamas and into the white slip of a nightdress she was currently wearing. Sarah clenched her fists at her side. That perv of a Goblin King had better not had anything to do with it. She would definitely be adding this to the very long list of grievances she'd be taking up with him as soon as they crossed paths.

Though it occurred to her that she was unlikely to do any real damage dressed as a virginal gothic novel heroine. Yanking open the cupboard, she resigned herself to just having to borrow a few of his clothes. But instead of being faced with wall to wall leggings and leather, she was greeted to a closet of dresses. The further back in the cupboard she looked, the more extravagant they became. Sarah carefully pulled one out near the front. It appeared to be not only her size, but to her taste. Grabbing a few more, she noticed they were all the same, all appearing as though they were made just for her. They were simple dresses, lovely in cut and style, but clearly designed for everyday wear. These had no exorbitant amount of jewels or brocading. Just lovely, rich, deep colours that complimented her features perfectly.

Cautiously, she slid a dark burgundy dress on. She was right, it did fit her perfectly, better than any other dress she'd ever worn. It nipped in at her waist and made her appear taller and more elegant. The dress felt like butter against her skin, and the slight bell sleeves and scalloped neckline somehow also made her feel delicate and lovely. As Sarah examined the dress, she saw that it had been worn. Well worn in fact. The dress wasn't falling apart by any means, but Sarah noticed the bits of wear and tear in the deep velvet fabric. A telltale stain on her left cuff, where she always managed to accidentally dip her sleeve in her meal. The hem was a bit frayed from being tripped over a few times. The fabric was wearing thin on her upper arms where she often nervously rubbed them. The dress appeared as though it had been worn by _her._

"How could he know these details about my life," she whispered to herself. It was uncanny and Sarah didn't like it one bit.

She decided she didn't want to stay in this room anymore. He could show up any minute and then where would she be? Just the same as last time, caught unawares and unprepared. This wouldn't be like last time, she resolved. She was fully grown now and fully pissed off and that Goblin King had some serious explaining to do.

"Maybe I'll finally get that chance to punch him in the nose," she thought with some joy as she quickly raced down the long castle hallway. She expected to find him waiting for her in his throne room, and after a few minutes of helpless wandering, during which several goblins stopped to bow to her for reasons that were completely unclear, she found it. Or at least, she thought she had. His barbaric throne was gone, replaced with a much more elegant looking seat upholstered in the same fabric and color as her dress. Getting closer, she noticed that the arms of this new throne were set in bronze carvings of Goblins chasing each other to and fro. Most worryingly of all, on the seat sat a small bronze circlet. Exactly like the one from the painting in her dreams.

Sarah suppressed a shudder. She did not like the implications of this at all.

She carefully walked to the center of the room, avoiding the inlaid pit where several chickens were happily clucking away.

He was toying with her. Planning on jumping out from the shadows and taking her by surprise. Well she wasn't having it. She wouldn't let him dictate the rules, he'd already decided enough.

Sarah sighed.

"Well nothing for it I guess. Goblin King get out here!" She shouted as loudly as she could. She waited a few minutes but nothing happened. She tried a couple more times as much as she could without ever saying the words "I wish". But no matter how she called him, Jareth was nowhere to be seen.

Finally several small goblins tottered into the room.

"My Queen," the smallest goblin said with a bow, "did you calls us?"

Sarah narrowed her eyes at the tiny creatures.

"What did you just call me?"

Each of them hesitated looking scared. The hoard pushing the smallest one to the front to answer.

"Uh, uh, my Queen?" the goblin said nervously.

Sarah bent down so she was as close to eye level with them as possible.

"Okay, let's just get one thing straight. I am not your Queen and I will never be your Queen. Now bring me your King right now before I change my mind and decide that the Goblin King was right to throw your lot in the bog."

The smallest goblin started shaking.

"But, but, but we no haves a King! Only a Queen! I mean, uh, only a yous!"

This caught Sarah by surprise and she beckoned the little goblin closer.

"What is your name," she asked the trembling Goblin carefully.

"Raggerdy, my uh, my lady?"

"Raggerdy," Sarah said gently, regretting her earlier tone. "What do you mean you don't have a King? Where is the Goblin King?"

Raggerdy covered its head with its hands, still shaking.

"No king! Last king years and years ago. Before Raggerdy. Before Queen Sarahs! Just – before!"

Sarah stood up and tried very hard not to freak out. Casting a glance back to the throne, the circlet caught her eye. She thought about the image from her dream, the painting over the fireplace of her and Jareth, and got an idea.

"Raggerdy, can you take me to the place where all the royal paintings are?"

Sarah's footsteps echoed through the royal portrait gallery. The paintings seemed to go on forever. She'd dismissed Raggerdy and the motley crew of curious goblins that had followed him. As much as she didn't want to see Jareth again, the current alternative was so much worse.

The first painting was of herself. She was wearing a dress the same colour as her eyes and she looked regal and fierce. Unlike any version of herself she had ever seen. The same bronze circlet sat above her head and if Sarah had to guess, she'd have put her age at around fifteen. That didn't bode well. She considered ripping the painting from the wall and burning it, if she was queen she could do as she liked couldn't she? But Sarah had to admit, the portrait was beautiful, and she looked lovely. Besides, better this painting than the other one.

The next painting was of a blonde man standing next to a darker haired woman. Her hair was a light brown and she had a much fuller face than her companion. Her eyes were a steel blue and they looked out at her with such intensity that her first instinct was to look away. In front of them was a young girl with red hair and the same blue eyes as, presumably her mother. She had a unique beauty even for a child. While her mother's eyes bore into Sarah's, the girls' were curious and seemed to search the entire room. She was dressed all in black and a single black feather was tucked into her hair.

Most curious of all though was the blonde man's striking resemblance. His dark eyes and ice blonde hair reminded her strongly of Jareth, but it clearly wasn't him. An ancestor perhaps. His hand was clasped protectively over the little girl's shoulder. Sarah briefly wished the paintings had inscriptions before recalling her dream and the strange language the papers had been written in. There would likely be no way for her to understand them anyways.

The rest of the hallway continued much the same way with the portraits appearing steadily older and more weathered the further she walked. All featured blonde men or women that could easily pass for one of Jareth's relatives, some featuring a child or a partner. It was unsettling. Sarah felt the eyes watching her as she walked. If she were anywhere else she'd chalk it up to just her imagination, here she wasn't so sure.

Sarah turned around and made her way back to the throne room. The portrait gallery had done nothing to assuage her fears but at least the painting from her dream was missing. Small mercies and all. The goblins clearly didn't know what they were talking about but they could help her find someone who did. The throne room was crowded with goblins chattering loudly to each other. She heard 'queen' whispered several times. While she wanted nothing to do with that title, it at least gave her the opportunity to make some orders.

"Okay listen up you lot!" Sarah bellowed, giving her best Goblin King impression. "You are all dispatched…errr no…ordered, to locate the following creatures in the Labyrinth. A dwarf who goes by Hoggle, he could be near the front gates tending to the fairy population, a small fox named Sir Didymus who should be guarding the bog, and a rock caller named Ludo who can be found in the hedge maze or possibly the forest. Bring them to me at once. No wait!" Sarah stopped herself, realizing just how that sounded. "Ask them if they would _consent_ to visit me as soon as possible for I have need of them. Make sure you say that exactly. Is this understood?"

The goblins all started nodding their heads quickly muttering their yesses before scattering out of the room.

Sarah stood alone, save for a few black chickens, in the middle of the throne room. She knew it was best to wait here for the goblins to return. She assumed it was also the receiving room for guests so probably the best place to greet her friends if they were as shocked by this turn of events as she was. Sarah gave a sidelong glance to the throne. She couldn't sit there. She just couldn't.

" _It's just a stupid chair_ ," her brain reminded her. " _It only means something if you let it._ "

"Oh yeah? Well then what about that freaking _crown_ sitting on it?" she muttered.

" _Yes well, that's another matter entirely. You should not, under any circumstance, put that on."_

"Noted," Sarah sighed and walked over to the throne, no, _chair_ , and carefully picked up the crown with her sleeve. She was pretty sure touching it wasn't going to cause any grievous harm or denote acceptance of any titles but she wasn't taking any chances. Everything meant something here. Sarah placed the crown on one of the stone divots in the wall.

Sarah waited an hour just sitting in the throne room. She discovered fairly quickly that thrones are actually rather uncomfortable and hard to sit on for long periods of time. She tried draping her legs over the arms but decided that didn't look terribly impressive, especially if the goblins came back. If they were her subjects, she didn't want them to see her lazing about. She wandered the room for a bit casting looks out at the Labyrinth from the windows. She may hate its king, but she couldn't deny the Labyrinth itself was beautiful. Sarah had never seen anything quite like it since and doubted she ever would. She idly wondered just how many creatures it housed. It certainly had cities, she distinctly remembered sacking one, but goblins couldn't be the only ones who lived there. Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ludo weren't goblins and they called the Labyrinth home. Not to mention the weird forest creatures and other bizarre cryptids she encountered on the way.

One thing she hadn't seen much of was any other humans…or human-like people. Sarah wasn't totally sure what Jareth was exactly but she doubted very much that he was human. There had been other people in the crystal dream Jareth had tried to trap her in, but she had no idea if they were really there or just another part of the illusion. Was Jareth really all alone in this realm? A small part of her began to feel sorry for him before she shook it away. Besides, she figured, there were definitely other people around at some point. There had been others in the paintings in the portrait gallery. How else could the line continue without children?

A horrible thought occurred to her. Maybe this was how the line continued. Kidnap boys and girls like her from Aboveground and force them to have the current monarch's children. Sarah's blood ran cold with the idea. What if the wished away became the spouses and if there weren't any in a generation, the Goblin throne just took someone? What was it that Jareth had said? Your baby brother will become one of us forever? She'd assumed that meant they'd be turned into a goblin but at no point had Jareth actually said goblin.

"Wait," she reasoned with herself. "For starters we've been over this. He has no power over you, you won fair and square and I'm pretty sure that means he can't marry you without your consent. Second, the spouses in those paintings looked anything but human. It's unlikely that Jareth is the last of his species and you cannot worry about that right now. Your goal is the same either way, get the hell out of here."

She needed to be alone. She retreated back to the bedroom, the one place she felt fairly confident no goblins would dare disturb her. Her initial thought was that she'd wound up in his bedroom, but the room was clearly designed for her and bore no signs of Jareth. The wardrobe had clothes to fit her, the painting above the bed was of her, the dresser had jewelry on it. As creepy as the thought was, the room was obviously designed for her. But hopefully she would not have to spend another night in that bed. The thought occurred to her that this was a prison Jareth had designed specifically for her but really, anywhere Jareth could jump out at her would be inconvenient, at least here she could avoid goblin interference. Pushing open the heavy stone door, she found the room immaculate. The bed made and the wardrobe which she had torn apart earlier all neatly returned to their proper place. She would have cried goblin if she didn't know better. They had no interest in cleanliness or decorum. Magic seemed much more likely. Though thinking back to the floor of her bedroom back home, she had to admit this was the kind of magic she could get used to.

Home - she was supposed to be at work by now. She'd already missed her daily workout with Emma, she wondered if her friend was at all worried about her absence. Sarah so rarely missed sessions and if she did, she always called in advance. Emma was the only person who might have some idea of what had happened to Sarah. Would her friends and family eventually call the police when they noticed she was missing? When they searched her apartment what would they find? An empty bed and her passport still in the drawer, clothes untouched and all mirrors covered up? Goddammit this simply couldn't stand. Whatever bullshit game Jareth was playing needed to end and she needed to get the hell out of this place. If he wasn't going to deign to make an appearance, then she'd just have to find her own way home.

Sarah felt her stomach rumble. She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten. Especially considering time didn't exactly work the same way here as it did back home. For all she knew she could have been asleep for days. Her eyes wandered over to the bowl of fruit sitting on the table. To say it was tempting would be an understatement. As much as Sarah wanted to believe she was going home any minute now, she really didn't know how long she might be stuck here. Unlike Persephone, she couldn't just ignore her hunger valiantly. Not to mention she'd need to save her strength for when, _and if_ , her brain reminded her, Jareth did show up.

"No Sarah," she muttered to herself. "Don't you learn anything? We must not look at Goblin men we must not eat their fruit." Well, the good news was she wasn't doing any looking at goblin men as they were still, annoyingly, refusing to show up. She decided she wouldn't touch the peaches, or the apples … and pomegranates for that matter. That just screamed of narrative convenience to her, a thing of which she knew Jareth was a fan. But an orange should be safe. There were never any stories about oranges. If she could, she'd have caught one of the numerous chickens that seemed to always been running around and roasted it, but an orange would have to do.

As Sarah reached for the fruit she thought about what a risk she was taking. A risk that all the rational parts of her brain were screaming at her in big bright letters. If Sarah was being really honest with herself she wasn't eating the fruit because she was hungry, though that was a large part of it. She was eating it because it was easier to eat the fruit and know. She'd know what Jareth's plan was, she'd fall into another one of his dream sequences and defeat him, same as she did last time. Then at least she could face him head on instead of hanging around like a sitting duck. It might be his plan to lure her in this way, but she was walking in with eyes wide open this time. No mask could hide his true nature anymore. She knew better. He knew better. This would be different. Maybe she should have chosen the apple after all.

Sarah slowly pulled the peel off the orange. It smelled and felt just like any regular orange to her. But then of course, it would. Pulling the peeled fruit in two, she gingerly took one of the slices and put it in her mouth. "Here goes nothing," she thought.

She was right. There was nothing. Sarah chewed and swallowed the piece slowly, waiting. Still nothing. After the last time she ate some of Jareth's fruit she began experiencing the effects almost immediately. She quickly ate more. Shoving the rest of the orange in her mouth barely bothering to chew. Then she reached for the apple, to the core there was nothing. Finally the peach. She had not touched a peach since she was fifteen years old but she hesitated only for a second before hastily biting into the skin. The taste was familiar but not in the way she had hoped. When the first piece of the orange hadn't worked she'd known it was pointless. It had only taken one bite last time. Perhaps she was immune now? Or perhaps she still had no idea what the fuck was going on. But at the very least it appeared she wouldn't starve while she waited. That was something.

As she reached for another piece of fruit, a flash of light caught her eye. There sitting innocently on the windowsill closest to the bed was one of his crystals. "Finally some answers," she muttered. Walking towards it she gently picked it up, holding it between her hands, waiting for something to happen. Her bets were on another snake. But the crystal remained stagnant. Sarah wasn't sure what she was expected to do now. The crystal definitely hadn't been there before, so this was a clear message. But what it meant or how to extract the message - that she was lost on.

An old memory flashed through her head. "If you turn it this way, it'll show you your dreams." Sarah looked at the crystal skeptically and did her best interpretation of Jareth's spinning ball trick. He made it look much easier than it actually was and the crystal slipped from her fingers and fell to the hard ground.

Miraculously, it didn't break. Only making a soft thud as it hit the stone floor. Sarah picked up the crystal. "Okay so you don't break easily, and you sound like there's something inside you. The last crystal bounced. You just drop." She slipped the crystal into the pocket of her dress.

Sarah wasn't sure what her next move was. She knew she shouldn't just lay about like a sitting duck waiting for Jareth to drop whatever horrible thing was coming into her lap, but the castle didn't actually seem any more dangerous than the Labyrinth itself. Out there she had no idea what she'd find, given she'd only scratched the surface of the place last time she was here. The stuff she'd encountered then hadn't been particularly pleasant to deal with either.

She wasn't worried about the goblins. They seemed harmless enough but what was more than that, they seemed to actually listen to her. Which she had to attribute to them just assuming everyone over five feet that wasn't covered in fur was their leader and to be obeyed. A little jumpy, sure, but Sarah figured anyone living under Jareth's reign for who knows how long was deserving of a little slack. No, though Jareth might want her staying in his castle, it still seemed like the best option available. Not to mention if there was going to be a secret portal or mirror back home, this would be where she'd find it.

Sarah sighed with defeat. If she was honest with herself, she knew the next place she needed to go. But the thought made her nervous. The Escher Room. Sarah didn't like the idea but it made the most sense. That was where her final confrontation with Jareth took place, that was where she found Toby, and that was where she was finally sent home from. Her last recollection had the place in ruins but that seemed more like Jareth's dramatic nonsense than anything real. She doubted she'd be so lucky to find all the stairs gone again. A leap of faith was the only thing that saved her from running out the clock just racing up and down stairs trying to save Toby, only to find he was just out of reach every time. She knew if she went in there she may not be able to find her way out again. But it was her best chance.

Sarah looked around the room for something she could grab to mark her steps. If she couldn't find the portal after a couple of hours she'd leave. But she wanted to keep herself from walking in circles and Sarah didn't trust this place to be entirely faithful to things like direction, gravity, and common sense. She noticed what appeared to be lipstick on the dresser but that went poorly for her last time. The only other things she found were the remainders of the fruit bowl and a loaf of bread she hadn't touched yet. The breadcrumb plan hadn't worked out so great for Hansel and Gretel so she wanted to stick with something without the direct fairytale connotation. Stories had rules after all. Sarah spotted a large spool of red thread above the fireplace and grabbed it to stuff in her pocket next to the crystal. It would do in a pinch.

It didn't take her long to find the Escher Room. It was exactly the same place it'd been last time, just behind the throne room. Sarah imagined Jareth didn't like to let people or goblins back there without his permission so it wouldn't be stumbled upon by just wandering the castle. This gave hope to her theory that there was a way out in there somewhere as Sarah doubted Jareth would make that easy to access either.

As Sarah stepped onto the first landing of the room she looked around carefully. A wave of deja vu rushed over her. She half expected Jareth to pop up from between her legs again and start mouthing off about things like honour and justice. Everything looked exactly as the first time she'd seen it. It wasn't in ruins which either told her Jareth had created that illusion just for dramatic effect or it had been restored in the last decade. Honestly, she figured either possibility was just as likely. The other thing she noticed was that the staircases were actually moving. She hadn't noticed it before but taking the time to pay attention she saw them shifting slightly out of the corner of her eye. If she looked directly at them they stopped.

"Is everything in this place alive?" she asked herself.

Out of curiosity she quietly tried to focus her energy to the amulet around her neck. She reached for the Labyrinth's power and let it carry over her with a warmth that spread from her head to her toes. She looked at the staircases again. Still they remained stagnant. It wasn't the power of the Labyrinth that allowed Jareth to move like that, just another one of his personal tricks.

Sarah wrapped the red thread around her wrist and tied the other end to the edge of a stone jutting out from the wall. She wanted to be able to just follow it back regardless of where the staircases took her. This way she'd be able to tell where she was going - or at least where she'd been.

Descending and ascending she made her way across the staircases. She tried not to think too hard about abstract concepts such as gravity. Trick or not, Jareth seemed to manage well enough and he certainly paid no attention to the laws of physics. She was the boss here and gravity could go fuck itself. She felt certain that there _was_ a center of the room before, with an archway that she needed to jump through. But that archway either moved or was never there at all. Sarah tried to go through as many different stairways and arches as possible, hoping one would lead her to the portal. She used the red thread to keep herself from accidentally going through the same door more than once but it made no difference. This room was just designed to keep runners occupied until the very last moment. She'd made a leap of faith and reached her brother, but there was nothing to jump towards this time. She was simply stuck.

Sarah sat down, defeated. She tried to pull the spool of thread from her pocket to see how much she had left on the roll when the crystal slipped out. Unwilling to lose her only connection to what was happening or hint of an answer into to the abyss, she leaned over and grabbed tightly to it, just barely catching it before it fell.

"Goddammit Jareth, you really aren't making this easy are you?" she hissed.

As Sarah spoke, the crystal dissolved suddenly in her hands leaving in its place, a letter. Sarah nearly fell off the stairs she was so startled by the crystal's sudden transformation.

"What is it a time lapse or something?"

Sarah turned the letter over in her hands. It bore a red seal with what looked like Jareth's pendant marked into it. There was no address on the front, only one word, her name. Sarah.

It had to be from him.

Sarah furiously ripped open the envelope, eager to finally have some contact.

" _My love,"_

 _The negotiations with the Lakelanders are taking much longer than expected. I will not pretend that this is a good sign. Phaedra has chosen to make the process as difficult as possible. Not altogether unexpected, but a most unwelcome addition to the parlay._

 _There might come a time in the next week where I am unable to write as I will be cloistered in discussions. We are trying to avoid the external influences that motivated the last war and this will hopefully be a final resort. I regret it, not having your words, your humour, and your most aggravating arguments will certainly be a strain. But you of all people understand my motivations, as always. This war cannot come to pass. I will not allow another turn of the hourglass._

 _So as you do not think I have left you without any good news, Yara of course, wishes you well. She asked me to inform you that she is terribly bored without your presence and if she should have to go into cloisters she will surely perish. I informed her that it seems rather unlikely she would die of boredom but she promises me it is imminent. She wishes you were here for company, but is glad you are safe and presumably less bored behind the walls of the Labyrinth._

 _As per your last letter, you were correct, they are insisting on that ridiculous set of musicians yet again. But I challenge your assertion that they are 'really good' and that I'm being 'unfairly critical', as I have now heard them several times on repeat over the last few days. I can tell you with absolute certainty that they are rubbish and appear to be endeavouring to remain so. Thankfully without you dragging me along, I am no longer forced to dance to them. What a pity._

 _I will write before we must go into cloisters if that is to come to pass. I will return to you as soon as I am able._

 _As always,_

' _til my last_

 _J_

Sarah stared blankly at the letter. What in god's name was going on? She expected some snarky note about this new game he'd decided to play with her. Or a casual remark about how he'd caught her and there'd be no escaping this time. Thinly veiled threats and general revenge plots she was prepared to deal with. Not whatever this was.

But what was this? It made no sense, none of it did. He opened with my love? My love? Was he insane? Was there maybe a mistake and this letter wasn't meant for her? Who was Yara and what or who were the Lakelanders? All this talk about dancing though? Best she remembered Jareth loved to dance.

"So that band must be really bad." She absently thought.

The casual intimacy of his letter was what upset her the most. It made her feel sick reading it. The same sort of sick she felt some ten years ago in this very room. The feeling that there was something just out of the corner of her eye and she absolutely could not, _must not_ , look at it.

He had signed it 'til my last. What did that mean? He hadn't used his name, only a J, so maybe it wasn't written by him at all? A ridiculous thought Sarah dismissed as soon as it entered her head. She knew it was written by him. He was all over the page. Even in the way he wrote she could feel his nature.

"There must be some other Sarah," she muttered.

She recalled her dream from the previous night. How he'd wrapped his arms protectively around her. The feel of the strands of his hair tickling the tops of her shoulders. How he'd smelled; like leather and spices mixed with the first day of fall. He'd called her 'my love' then too.

But that wasn't real, she reminded herself. It was just a dream. It had been so long since she dreamed she had to have forgotten how powerful they could be. But eventually all dreams were forgotten. Lost in the back of the mind, trying to hold onto it was always useless. This letter however was terribly real.

Unless…what if it wasn't? A wave of relief washed over her. Such a simple explanation of course! Sarah felt stupid for it not occurring to her sooner. Jareth was the king of dreams. Of course he could see what she was dreaming. He might even be able to place a dream in her head. There was no coincidence that the first dream she'd had in nearly a decade was followed by her waking up in his bed Underground. Having all the goblins refer to her as "Queen Sarah"? Nobody knowing who or where Jareth was? Then suddenly getting this letter out of the blue? It was all designed just to confuse her.

What was worse, he was hoping to fool her the same way he'd tried to all those years ago. By masking his terror with false affection. He wanted to play to her heart, not her head. Her head knew better, her heart was something easily fooled. Showing her a false softer side of himself was just another one of his games. If he thought it would endear her towards him, he was sorely mistaken. All it did was renew her anger.

Sarah was relieved that this was just as before, that she could forget that other niggling feeling and grasp tightly onto the familiar heat of anger, letting it overwhelm her. How dare he treat her this way. Like her affections were not only something that could be won, but that he could use against her. Like he was entitled to her worship. It was one thing to attack her or throw her into an oubliette, but this was something else. It was manipulative and cruel. She couldn't even take respite in sleep, he'd perverted that too. She wanted him thrown in an oubliette and left there to rot.

Enough was enough. Sarah was done waiting around and she was done being toyed with. She was going to find Jareth and she was going to end this one way or another.


	3. The Fox & The Raven

" _Then turn selfishness into a weapon! Make all things yours! Make other lives and dreams and hopes yours! Protect them! Save them! Bring them into the sheepfold! Walk the gale for them! Keep away the wolf! My dreams! My brother! My family! My land! My world! How dare you try to take these things, because they are mine!"_

\- The Wee Free Men: Terry Pratchett

* * *

Sarah tore through the castle with renewed vigour. She'd left the Esher Room immediately, following her thread back to the beginning. Crumpling up the letter, she shoved it into her pocket. She wanted to keep it as a reminder that letting her guard down even for a minute in this place was not without consequences. Jareth had a point, Sarah's heart was always her weakness.

Storming into the throne room, she threw open the main door. A dozen goblins jumped out of their skin and scattered around the room.

"Where are Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus?" she bellowed to the room.

The goblins all huddled together shaking. Sarah had no sympathy for them, they were in this with him. She needed to find her friends and get some real allies on her side.

"My lady," one of the goblins stuttered taking a step forward. "We have tried. But they run and hide from us. The great beast is no longer in the Labyrinth but the fox on his way. He refused to come with us but is riding his, er, dog towards the castle now. The dwarf has been spotted but he is quick my lady. We will catch him though."

"Did you tell him Sarah requested him?" she asked impatiently.

"Yes my lady! He said he's never had any business with the queen and he didn't trust us any," a rotund goblin pleaded.

"Did you tell him it was Sarah and not the queen?" Sarah replied exasperated.

"Yes! We says both! Says Sarah wants him and then he started running so we told him it was a request from his queen."

"He started running when you told him Sarah wanted him?" she asked deflating slightly. Maybe he thought _she_ did something to end the communication. She'd always assumed they knew Jareth had blocked her, but what if they didn't? What if they thought she'd stopped talking to them because she'd grown up and decided to leave them behind? She felt the rage rise again in her belly. Her cheeks burned hot with anger, how dare Jareth let her friends think she'd abandoned them when it was his fault she couldn't talk to them in the first place. He'd gone absolutely too far and she was going to end him. This was some next level manipulative bullshit. A part of her reasoned that it made sense. She had succeeded only with her friends last time. Separate her from them and she'd be weaker. But that was the old Sarah. The new Sarah _wanted_ her friends, but she didn't need them. She was sufficient on her own now.

"Okay," she breathed. "Please try and get Hoggle, the dwarf, to the castle. It's of the utmost importance. But I don't want him harmed in any way. If he's not willing to come here of his own volition, please make sure he at least gets a message. So listen very carefully because he needs to hear it exactly okay?"

The goblins all nodded their heads in unison. Sarah wasn't overly confident in their ability to convey a message, but she didn't know if Hoggle could read or if he could even identify English. The only paper she had was Jareth's letter and she was not letting anyone, friend or otherwise, see that.

"Tell him that Sarah is sorry and that Jareth kept her from him but she's here now and wants very badly to see him," Sarah said carefully.

If the goblins felt this message was strange they gave no indication. Bowing deeply to her they hurried out of the throne room, hopefully to convince Hoggle to give her another chance. Sarah's heart ached with the thought that through all these years Hoggle thought she'd abandoned him. After all they'd been through together. But she knew the little dwarf's heart was easily hardened and the good will she'd built up had likely deteriorated over the years. The good news was Sir Didymus at least was on his way. At least he had not written her off completely.

Short of sitting around and waiting for Didymus to show up and for Hoggle to hopefully listen to her message, Sarah wasn't sure what her next move should be. Obviously Jareth expected her to play his game and was likely to continue this weird dance for a little while longer. She couldn't force him to confront her.

Except wait … could she?

Sarah looked around the throne room. This was Jareth's home, this was his castle and his kingdom. He'd basically left her to do what she would with it. Well, if Jareth wasn't going to play nice, Sarah saw no reason why she should either.

The throne room was a public place and the goblins, not the most careful of creatures, were free to roam. It didn't seem the most ideal location to carry out her plan. Sarah began searching the hallways trying various doors. She had to be careful, some of the doors led to nothingness, open the door and drop down into utter blackness, others led to rooms filled with snakes, yellow gas, and one with broken glass everywhere. Luckily she didn't have to search long until she found exactly what she was looking for. The room bore more resemblance to the bedroom than anywhere else she'd seen in the castle. Though it was the middle of the afternoon, the room's dark walls and floor made it appear much later than it rich intricate rug on the ground depicted scenes from the Labyrinth's forest and the creatures that lived there. The large redwood desk was placed in the middle of the rug and the designs ran up the desk's legs becoming lifelike carvings of the trees in the forest. A stone fireplace was inlaid to the left of the desk. Bookshelves wrapped their way around the west side of the room and a large bay window faced across from the desk on the southern wall.

"Jackpot," Sarah whispered. It was time to get smashing.

Without looking at the desk, Sarah grabbed it and flipped it over. It hit the ground with a resonating thud, causing papers to fly everywhere. She started grabbing books from the bookshelf and throwing them across the room and out the window onto some unsuspecting goblins below. Sarah grabbed a bottle of ink and began pouring it all over the room soiling the carpet and covering, what she hoped, were some very important files.

Glancing at the fireplace across the room, Sarah took one look at the great, wooden, very old, and important looking desk and began pulling out drawers and tossing them straight into the fireplace. She tried to break the legs off as well but despite all of Sarah's commitment to leg day, they were thick like actual tree trunks she couldn't seem to remove them. Sarah picked up any leftover papers left scattered around and and tossed them into the fire as well. Grabbing a match from a cup on the mantle, she lit the lot of it on fire. It made a very satisfying crackle as the papers and drawers of the desk went up in flames. All of the knickknacks on the desk were scattered and broken in pieces and Sarah looked over the room with satisfaction. _Yep_ , she thought, _thoroughly trashed_.

With a distinct lack of Jareth still apparent, Sarah went to leave hoping to find more important rooms to wreck. The minute she had her back to the room she heard a loud noise like air rushing through a tunnel. Sarah turned back around to discover that all her hard destroying had been undone. Everything was back exactly in the place where it had been when she'd come in. Not a hair was out of place.

"Why must you make this so difficult!" Sarah screamed in frustration.

She went back over to the desk to start breaking things again. Not that she thought they wouldn't just fix themselves right back again when she was done, but the actual act of smashing was making her feel better about the whole situation. However, when she looked at the top of the desk, something about it seemed off. She hadn't noticed before when she was busy with all the wrecking, but the papers were covered in her handwriting.

These weren't letters or documents she'd written back Aboveground that Jareth had somehow got his hands on, Sarah had never seen these before in her life. There were dozens of notes, written in English thankfully, that held details of various places and people she'd never heard of before. One paper in particular caught her eye. It seemed to be addressed to the Yara of Jareth's letter.

" _Yara,_

" _You're completely awful, you do know that right? I mean you must given that nobody Underground could ever mistake you for anything but the horrible creature you truly are. I'll have you know that those details are deeply private and let's not pretend I'd ever write them down let alone share them with you. You're a terrible gossip and always have been. Best to just accept it. It's been seven years, you think you would have given up this particular ghost by now. Alas, it seems our friendship must always be marred by your inability to let things go._

 _As it stands, I have an engagement in the Redlands in a fortnight. They're demanding a tithe to pay for the poor harvest this year and I think Dayardra has gotten in over her head. We'll be seeing if we can negotiate with the High Court as a liaison, but I doubt much will come of it. So, given that the Redlands are just a stone's throw from the Overgarden, I hope to visit you for a short while following this dull diplomatic gathering. Write back if you'll have me, don't bother writing back if you won't, I'll be showing up anyways._

 _Nothing but love,_

 _Sarah"_

"This is getting super creepy," Sarah said, giving the letter another once over. It was certainly her handwriting and it was definitely her signature, but everything else was a complete mystery to her. Jareth was really going to town on the whole "make Sarah think she's going crazy" thing. She had to admire his commitment to the bit, even if by now he should know she had already figured out his game plan. Or was he not able to watch her through his crystals? Maybe he just had to assume things were going to plan.

"Oh, well, that was a big mistake Jareth" she laughed to herself.

But something was bothering her about the letter. How seamlessly it fit into her dream the previous night. The tithe and the Redlands? Had she not mentioned them when speaking to Jareth? The letter didn't particularly sound like her, but there were bits and pieces - how could he know she usually signed her letters with 'nothing but love'? But only to her friends. Was she supposed to assume Yara was her friend in this game of his? What was the point of giving her fake friends? What did this letter have to do with any of Jareth's goals?

Underneath the bits and pieces of notes were other papers, this one written in a language Sarah had never seen before, but looked terribly familiar at the same time. It had the same flow as her handwriting but she couldn't be sure. She figured if Jareth was able to mimic her handwriting so perfectly in the letter, then there was no reason he wouldn't be able to do it for another language.

A slightly old and ragged looking photograph caught her eye. Stuck to the inside of an envelope was a black and white picture of her, Jareth, and a third woman with long hair. It looked as though it had been taken with a very old camera. The photo was printed on something thick, and more solid than just paper. The image was grainy and faded. But it was definitely her. She was smiling, curved against Jareth's waist, and looking up at Jareth with a bemused expression on her face. As though she was simultaneously exasperated and pleased. Jareth was smiling, though it wasn't a smile she'd ever seen before. He wasn't smug or preening, he just looked … happy. Delighted in fact. It was a smile of pure contentedness, and it made her uncomfortable. She didn't like the idea that he could ever look that way. It wasn't right. The girl in the picture looked somewhat familiar but Sarah couldn't place her. Maybe this was Yara? Jareth had his hand protectively on her shoulder and the woman had a knowing smile. She was shorter than Sarah or Jareth, but her eyes captured Sarah's attention enough to make her feel like the center of the picture.

Sarah took the photo and tucked it into her dress. She wasn't sure why she was keeping it, just that she definitely didn't want Jareth having it.

Sarah absently made her way back to the throne room. It seemed pointless trying to destroy Jareth's things if they were just going to be righted again afterwards. There was something to be said about torpedoing the kingdom politically. As queen, she should be able to rule however she saw fit. But, Sarah reminded herself, her friends still had to live there, and she wasn't about to make their lives harder just because Jareth was being a jerk. She didn't want to wait it out but short of making an exact wish, which she wasn't sure the implications of, she didn't know what else to do.

When she reached the throne room, to Sarah's delight she found a slightly bedraggled fox and his dog waiting for her.

"Sir Didymus!," Sarah cried out rushing over to hug the little fox. "Oh Sir Didymus you're okay! You're here and alive! I was so worried about you! Oh I've missed you so much!

"My queen!," he tried to bow but Sarah pulled him back tightly between her arms first. "Oh my queen, this _is_ a most generous welcome. What need doest thou have of me?"

Sarah pulled back from the hug.

"Sir Didymus, please not you too," she groaned. "I don't care what Jareth has told you, I'm no queen, I'm still Sarah. Just Sarah. Understood? Though, oh, how I have missed you!"

Sir Didymus looked alarmed.

"Who dare calls impugns the honour of our queen? Who dares suggest she is no queen? I will fight them! I will duel with those scoundrels until they breathe their last breath for such treason!"

Sir Didymus thrust his sword out wildly slashing at the air.

"No no, it's just me Sir Didymus. Nobody impugned my honour, but if you want to fight Jareth, hey I'm not going to stop you," Sarah laughed.

"Jareth my lady?" Sir Didymus asked. "Who does he swear allegiance to? Where shall I find the scabrous creature?"

"That," Sarah interrupted, "is a very good question. I have no idea where our Goblin King has run off too but he seems content to watch this game play out from the sidelines. I'm hoping you could help me find him Sir Didymus."

"The Goblin King your highness?" Sir Didymus asked in confusion. "But…there is no Goblin King? Only the Goblin Queen. Er, you, my lady."

"Ugh no not this again," Sarah stood up and straightened her dress. "Look, I don't know what he's done to all of you or how he compelled you to play this game but I'm getting real sick of it. I've missed you Sir Didymus, and I want to spend time with you. I'm sorry for what happened before but I hope you know that it wasn't me who cut you off, it was Jareth. I was just as upset as you to find we could no longer talk. I was actually worried for your safety and that it was the beginning of Jareth's revenge but other than coming down here myself, I didn't know what to do."

"My lady, forgive me, but I do not know of what you speak. Thou hast never called on me before, but I am honoured to come to your aid in any way thou deems fit! I am duty bound to serve my queen and my queen I shall serve!" Sir Didymus shouted, parrying his sword around again.

"Sir Didymus stop joking around," Sarah was getting seriously annoyed now. "Are we friends or not?"

"Er…uh…I'm afraid I don't know my lady," Sir Didymus answered deflating. "You are my queen. I answer to your call. But thou hast never called on me before now."

"Ever?" Sarah implored.

"No, never. This would be the first time thou hast brought me to court. The er, first time we have spoken my queen."

Sarah knelt back down and stared at Sir Didymus searchingly. He wouldn't lie to her. Not for Jareth, not for anyone. Especially not if he thought she was the queen. He really had no memory of her as being anything other than his queen. Sarah fell to the ground with a thud. The realization that he had no idea who she was knocking her off her feet. This was bad. Suddenly Hoggle's reluctance to come to the castle made more sense.

"Okay," Sarah said slowly, trying to think clearly. "Sir Didymus tell me, have you ever, even in passing, heard of someone named Jareth?"

"No my queen."

Sarah pulled the photo from her dress.

"What about that man, there in the centre. Have you seen him before? Ever? It's important that you're totally honest with me. I won't get mad either way, but you must tell me the truth."

Sir Didymus shook his head. "No my queen. I have never seen that man before in my life. Though the lady is familiar."

Sarah felt like she was going to be sick. That was it, she was out of options, and she was out of help. At least she had proof she wasn't crazy. She had Jareth's letter and the picture of him. But this was getting truly worrisome now. What if Jareth had gone? Just up and left the kingdom to her as some sort of sick and twisted punishment and his responsibilities be damned. But that still didn't explain the dreams or the letter. Or her presence in that photo. Or the wear of the dresses in the wardrobe, or the paintings of her. Something was wrong, this didn't feel right. Nothing about this felt right. As much as she wanted to deny it, she didn't think Jareth was playing anymore.

"Wait," Sarah said her head snapping up. "You said the woman is familiar? Who is she?" Sarah asked Sir Didymus urgently.

"She lives on the edge of the city, between the swamps and the forest," Didymus pointed out towards the Labyrinth. "She is rarely seen but my memory is keen and sharp and that is most certainly her, though she has changed from the image you see here."

"Is she a junk lady?" Sarah asked squinting at the photo.

"No my lady, she is just called the Raven, as that is the form she prefers to take."

"The raven…" Sarah felt her head swim. The raven, just like the one in front of her house.


	4. The True Queen

_Parallel lines, move so fast,_

 _toward the same point,_

 _infinity is as near as it is far_

\- Parallel Lines: Kings of Convenience

* * *

Sarah tried to convince Sir Didymus to take her to the woman, but he explained it was impossible.

"She cannot be found by anyone she has not decided to let find her. You might stumble upon her home accidentally but should you seek it, you will wander the Labyrinth for weeks searching."

That didn't give Sarah a great deal of confidence as she set out towards the forest, but she figured the Raven spent enough time stalking her home, the least she could do was return the favour. Maybe if she really was the Labyrinth's queen she'd be able to find her more easily. After all, wasn't this woman supposed to be one of her citizens? Didn't that mean she must bend to Sarah's will?

Sarah hadn't been into the Labyrinth since her first trip Underground and she was a bit nervous to go back into the fray. As she walked through the goblin city she was surprised to see how much it had changed. There were more homes built much higher than she'd previously remembered. The small little houses were now packed much more densely and the streets were paved with stones. Fresh laundry hung from clotheslines between buildings and merchants on the street corner called out their wares. It looked and felt like a proper city, albeit with its own brand of magical weirdness. The higher buildings definitely seemed to defy gravity and even the smaller ones were tilting pretty significantly but seemed in no danger of falling over. As Sarah passed through the city, the creatures stopped to bow respectfully. Some of them looked at her with awe and a touch of reverence that made Sarah slightly uncomfortable. She privately felt glad she'd not gone through with destroying the town a second time.

As far as she could see it was mostly goblins running through the city, but she spotted a handful of dwarves, a number of creatures she didn't recognize, and something that might be a cousin of those head stealing creatures she saw in the forest. It was hard to tell what was a goblin, versus a dwarf, or anything else for that matter, as they came in all shapes and sizes. Each goblin had a wonderfully unique look to them and seemed proud to flaunt their distinctiveness. Sarah noticed a goblin with a particularly large nose wearing several pieces of nose jewelry, another was very round in stature with tiny feet who rolled everywhere.

Somewhere along the way she had forgotten that this was a real city with real creatures living in it. She'd thought of the goblins as her enemies, just something else to fight, but they were really just trying to live their lives and this was their home. She idly wondered if any of them used to be human children or if her earlier hypothesis of stolen children still held true.

As she walked through the goblin city she found that despite having very little idea where she was going, she could not take a wrong turn. She reached the gates almost immediately and was able to pass seamlessly through the junkyard and exterior walls of the city. Sarah reached and found that the connection she had felt this morning with the Labyrinth was still there, just pulsing in the background. Idly running through her like a current.

" _It's bending the labyrinth to my will_ ", she thought. Making the way smoother for her then she could ever have hoped for as a runner. " _Well that explains why Jareth was able to pop up everywhere like a deranged whack-a-mole._ "

Sarah stood at the edge of the forest and took a deep breath. It wasn't so much that she was afraid than she was reluctant. Her last trip through these woods hadn't exactly been pleasant though they didn't scar her for life. She was a wiser girl now and knew that anything in this forest couldn't do half as much damage to her as Jareth could if she let him continue this odd game he was playing. She wasn't sure what was going on anymore but nothing about it seemed at all good.

Sarah started into the woods and began purposefully walking to the swamps. Her heart did a funny little jump as she breathed in the smell of the trees, the moss on the rocks and the damp wood scattered around her feet. There was nothing else quite like it. As loathe as she was to admit it, and she'd never say it out loud, she'd spent a great deal of time trying to feel the things she felt the first time she was Underground and find a mortal spot that captured the same energy this forest had. She realized now that this was the scent of magic, it clung to ever branch and bramble and almost made her forget why she was there. It was intoxicating in its complexity. If Sarah had been anyone else she might have found herself overcome. But a peach once bitten stays bitten and she soldiered on towards her goal.

As the trees began to thin out, Sarah thought she should have been getting closer by now, but there was a noticeable lack of disgusting smell in the air. If this woman lived on the edge of the forest near the swamp then her home should definitely have a distinct odour if you were getting close.

Sarah lifted her head up and cast her eyes around to see if she could see or smell the bog through the trees and instead nearly walked straight into a small cottage.

"Ok, that definitely wasn't there before," Sarah muttered.

Sarah looked around at the little small home. Sir Didymus had definitely said a hut and this was no hut, in fact it reminded her of what she'd always imagined the witch's house in Hansel and Gretel to look like, but without the chocolate infrastructure. An extensive garden wrapped around the house and little fairies flitted to and fro from the brambles climbing up the walls. It was so covered in ivy and moss it was nearly camouflaged in the middle of the forest. There was a good bit of smoke coming out of the chimney which indicated someone or something was home.

"Oh there you are!" a young redheaded woman carrying a basket full of plants appeared around the side of the house. "It took you long enough," she said walking around to open the door. "Come in, come in, we need to get started on this."

"Uh," was all Sarah managed looking at the woman. She was the same age, if not younger than she appeared in the photo. Sarah thought the woman looked to be around her age. She was, of course, overwhelmingly beautiful. Her face had lovely high cheekbones and a sharp chin, but with a characteristic softness in her face that kept it from seeming too harsh. Her eyebrows lilted upwards like Jareth's had and when the woman looked at her with her icy blue eyes, Sarah felt a shock of recognition.

"Who are you?" Sarah asked completely startled.

"Yeah okay, I owe you that I know, but seriously we can't talk about this out here so get in and I'll make you some tea or something. You drink tea? Of course you drink tea everyone drinks tea," the woman trailed off and walked into the cottage.

Somewhat reluctantly Sarah followed. This had to be the woman she was looking for but this wasn't what she was expecting…at all. Something about her seemed off and Sarah couldn't put her finger on it.

The inside of the cottage was decorated with the most bizarre assortment of items Sarah had ever seen. Somehow it managed to resemble the inside of an old antique shop and a witch's kitchen. The giant cauldrons steaming over the fireplace and swaths of plants climbing the walls were expected. The metal plated "Drink Guinness" signs were not. Nor were the colorful windup tchotchkes whirring around on large wooden table. Or the tie dye beanbag chair in the corner. Large stacks of books were topped off with lava lamps and post it notes and empty red bull cans littered the floor. Flowers were growing out of an old football helmet on the counter and a Star Trek themed spice rack held mason jars of bizarre ingredients, some of which were moving.

"What on earth?" Sarah deadpanned trying to take it all in.

"Yeah, I know it's a bit of a mess but we'll all just have to live with that as I'm pretty sure you came here to talk, not watch me clean. So I'm making ginger tea with my specially grown ginger roots. It won't hurt you or anything and you can watch me make it if you're nervous, but it won't taste like the ginger tea Above."

The woman fired off rapidly pulling two mugs from the cupboard. One of which looked like an ancient goblet, the other had a picture of a flying saucer on it with the text "I Want To Believe".

"Uh…can I have the regular mug please?" Sarah asked. It seemed the request likely to yield the best answer at present.

"Oh sure sure, the other one's usually just for show but I mean, I'm not really interested in cleaning another glass right now."

Sarah carefully moved a pile of old magazines off a plush upholstered chair and sat down at the table. The woman brought over two mugs of steaming tea and took a seat on the high backed wooden chair across from Sarah.

"So can I just say, I love that this is the dress you chose totally of your own volition this morning. Hilarious how that works sometimes. You look good though, I honestly was expecting more chaos but I haven't heard anything about you nuking the kingdom at all."

"Okay, you know what, nope." Sarah said frustrated knocking off an old wind up soldier from the table. "I'm done. Today has been absolute hell trying to figure out what the fuck is going on, how I'm going to get home, and what Jareth is doing. I come here into this conclave of weird, and you just hand me an X-files mug, talk a million miles a minute despite not saying anything at all, and I swear you look so familiar and I just - just tell me what the hell is going on!"

The woman laughed and took a sip of her tea.

"Okay fair enough, let's start with the basics then before getting into the nitty gritty. Jemara is what I go by but Jem is fine. This is my home and I wouldn't be so quick to call weird as I've seen you people live in buildings with those moving staircases to nowhere. That's friggin weird."

"You mean escalators?" Sarah asked stunned.

"Yes!" Jem shouted pointing at Sarah. "That's their name, I knew I was e-something. Whatever anyways, you get my point."

"Seriously who are you? Why … why do you sound so weird?"

"As I said before, I prefer to be called Jem. As for the inflections of my speech, well, would you prefer I spoke more like this Sarah?" The woman asked dropping the lightness from her voice. "Like Jareth speaks to you with his fanciful phrasing and slow parables? I certainly can if that is your wish. However, I imagine that you would actually like to be spoken to in plain modern English which is why I adjusted my my speech.

"I can talk to you however you want," she said resuming her previous tone. "I have spent a…fair amount of time Above so I'm familiar with modern human speech patterns. So I just thought it'd be easier for us to understand each other if we're speaking the same language, prose and all, and it _is_ important we understand each other."

"No it's fine," Sarah shook her head trying to concentrate. "You are The Raven yes?"

"Yeah, sometimes people call me that."

"and you have been watching me outside my house?"

"Yep."

"Okay…why?"

"I mean, that should be pretty obvious by now."

"You knew this was going to happen?" Sarah asked. "You knew Jareth was going to kidnap me?"

"Mmm yes to the first one no to the second," she answered. "Yes I was pretty sure this was going to happen, no Jareth did not kidnap you he has both everything and nothing to do with this."

"Wait that's the other thing," Sarah interjected. "How come you're the only one who seems to know who Jareth is. Everyone else I've spoken to has no idea who I'm talking about and look at me like I'm crazy when I mention his name. It's like he doesn't exist."

"Well that's just it," Jem said deflating slightly. "He doesn't exist."

"What?" Sarah's brow furrowed in confusion. "Of course he exists! How could he not exist?"

"With great difficulty," Jem answered. She flicked her wrist and an old image of a dark haired man appeared. "This is the High King. His name is Ryuoth. I tell you this because it's important you know his name, but you have to promise me never to repeat it outside these walls. This cottage is protected, anything we say here cannot be overheard and I'm trusting you to trust me. You have to believe me when I explain what's going on or bad things will happen."

"Why should I trust you?" Sarah asked accusingly. "The only thing I know about you is that you've been stalking me for the last few months."

Jem's lips thinned.

"Well you weren't supposed to notice that but fine, fair enough. Listen Sarah," she reached out and grasped Sarah's hands in her gloved ones. "I know this is overwhelming and you don't know who to trust here, but I am a friend. I'm trying to be patient but there's a lot happening right now and some stuff you need to know for your safety. I'm taking a risk telling you because I don't want you to get hurt. I do care about you. So I'm asking you that even if you don't believe me, not to repeat what we talk about here to anyone. At least not just yet. Can you do that please?"

Jem looked so sincere that Sarah was slightly taken aback. If she was being honest with herself, it would be easier to trust Jem than not. Sarah was desperate for help and friendship at this point and Jem was offering it up on a silver platter. Which meant Jem had to know what she was doing. Sarah was scared and alone. So while she'd certainly listen to Jem and what she had to say, she'd only keep her promise as long as Jem seemed to have her best interests at heart, and that meant getting herself home as soon as possible.

"Okay, I understand."

"Good," Jem took a long sip from her tea. "Well then I suppose the first thing you should know is that I'm Jareth's sister."

"I'm sorry you're his what now?" Sarah sputtered.

"His sister. Well technically half-sister."

Sarah looked at Jem critically, no wonder she had seemed so familiar. Her eyes, the shape of her cheekbones, the dismissive way she talked, it was all Jareth. The markings around her eyes were the same but Sarah had just assumed that was the typical pattern for their kind.

"I'm sorry," Sarah said shaking her head. "I guess, I just never pictured Jareth having a sister."

"Yeah, well, that tends to happen. I bet you didn't picture him having a mother and father but he's got those too."

"The painting!" Sarah snapped. "You're the family from the painting. The little girl with the red hair was you. So those are yours and Jareth's parents? Where are they?"

"Okay, yes that's me in the painting, yes that is our mother, but that is Jareth's father, not my father. And as for where they are, well they've both been dead for about three hundred years now."

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know," Sarah replied embarrassed. She wasn't sure whether three hundred years was a long time for them, it may still feel like yesterday for all she knew. "But wait, Jareth wasn't in the painting - was he not born yet?"

"No I told you," Jem replied exasperated. "He doesn't exist. Please try and keep up this is only going to get more complicated."

"Right well, maybe I'd understand better if you actually got on with the explaining business."

"Maybe I'd be able to explain more if you didn't stop interrupting me," Jem snapped back.

"Fine fine," Sarah said rolling her eyes.

"God you really are the exact same," Jem remarked shaking her head.

"Exact same as what?" Sarah shot back.

"What did I just say about interrupting! I will force you to keep quiet if you can't manage it on your own. But I usually save that spell for toddlers so make your choice here."

Sarah huffed and waved her hand indicating Jem to continue.

"So backtracking, I'm Jareth's half-sister on his mother's side. But as it happens I actually have two brothers. This is important because my father? Kinda the old High King. Which means that yep, my other brother is Ryuoth, the current High King.

"So to really understand this you're going to need a bit background. Now in Underground law, inheritance of titles has nothing to do with something as dumb as gender nor does it place any real importance on being the firstborn. The child who inherits a throne is always the strongest child. Usually this means magically but not always. Each family carries a specific magical trait that is inherent to them. For the Goblin Kingdom the trait is dream manipulation. The strength of the children is readily apparent as they grow up so everyone knows who's going to inherit the throne before we reach sixteen. As it happens, the majority of the time the firstborn child ends up being the strongest magically. We don't know why this happens, we just know it does. There are theories but it's mostly just silly superstitions. But like I said it's not necessarily a given. The current monarch of the Mires is the third child of the previous Queen.

"So all that being said, I am the first child of the previous High King and the first child of my mother, but I am a bastard. My parents were never married as the High King at the time was already married. To Ryuoth's mother.

"Oh," said Sarah.

"Yeah. So my birth was a problem for a number of reasons. I took away the inherent strength that is given to a first born child from the High King. I proved that the trouble of producing an heir was the queen's problem and not the King's, and to top it off my mother was a half human who my father happened to be in love with."

"Wait," Sarah interjected. "Does that mean Jareth's a quarter human?"

"Yeah, though he's also like 1/16th troll or something and nobody ever talks about that."

"That I can believe," said Sarah letting out a small laugh.

"I mean, obviously right?" Jem laughed. "Oh Jareth. Anyways, the interrupting!"

"Right sorry," Sarah replied apologetically. She was actually curious to hear where this was going now.

"So yeah, my mother was half human. Which is way more common then anyone from the high families would let you think. There's only like maybe five pure fae families left and their stock is…limited. A little history lesson for you, interbreeding with humans used to, like over two thousand years ago used to, be seen as dirty and gross like interbreeding with apes. No offence."

"Uh some taken?" Sarah said disgusted. Jem didn't seem to hear or care.

"But around that time we noticed that you lot were all using way more metal than you were previously, but more worrisome, you were beginning to rely on it. Not only that but the pure fae children seemed to be getting weaker and fewer in numbers. It was obvious then to anyone that the best way to survive as a species was to breed with humans - willing humans," she added quickly.

"There are a decent amount of humans down here. So interbreeding was always going to happen but now we know its for the benefit of the species. It's common knowledge above, or was for many millennia, that the best way to kill our kind is to use pure iron. Do you know where iron is now? Friggin everywhere. You literally cannot go aboveground unless you are at least part human. You will straight die. You might be able to get away in a rural area with groundwater but it's incredibly dangerous for a full fae. Iron is in your water, its in your food, you guys even take pills to put _more_ iron in your bodies. Your blood? Chock full of iron. Which is where the interbreeding comes in.

"The more human blood you have, the more neutralized the threat of iron is. I am a quarter human but the human part of me is stronger than in say, Jareth, who is also a quarter human. Frankly he's more like an eighth human, it just worked out that way. The more iron in your blood the more resilient you are to its effects. So I can and have lived aboveground for years and years. Which is where I picked up my human accent. I can even live in cities. The only things I can't do are drink your tap water, use anything higher tech than a microwave, and I can't live in buildings made after 1920. It's mostly like I just have a really severe metal allergy. Breaking the skin of a pure fae with pure iron will stop their heart.

"So basically interbreeding resulted in children that were not only stronger physically, but improbably, also stronger magically. The high families hated this. They were reluctant to give up long held prejudices about humans and marry off their sons and daughters to families they saw no different than monkeys. You will probably not be shocked to hear this has legitimately gone on for centuries now and the high families, despite dying out at an alarming rate, are still maintaining their stance of pure fae marriages only. But like I said, only about five families have actually stuck to that and haven't snuck in a human servant girl and passed off the resulting baby as 'pure' fae.

"The High Throne has made a show of being pure, but there's been human blood mixed in long before I came along. However the laws are that the monarch cannot marry any non pure fae, at least not a known one. My mother was strongly human so there was no use of my father pretending otherwise. He loved my mother and kept her on as his mistress for years, before and after he married his wife. When I was born, my father tried to have the law changed to allow him to leave his wife and marry my mother, but it proved impossible. However, by this point, everyone in the kingdom knew of my birth so the secret of my parent's affair was out. Not only that, but the magic that is inherent to the royal family? Is rather particular. No other fae carry that trait who are not related to the throne in some way."

"What's the magic?" Sarah asked curiously.

"It's rather hard to explain but regardless, Ryuoth's mother was furious when she found out about me. She claimed I had stolen her child's birthright by taking his firstborn status away from him. She demanded my father cast my mother and I out. Ideally, we both would have been killed, but by this point the queen was pregnant. Which meant that my mother's and my death was impossible.

"You see Sarah," Jem said standing up walking over to stir whatever was in the cauldron. "The fae have a nifty little law, and fae laws, as you may have already gleaned from this story, are incredibly difficult to break. They are blood laws and if you can physically manage to break it, you're usually going to die anyways. One of our strongest laws is that you cannot kill anyone who is related to you at all. That means no ordering someone to kill them for you, no strongly implying you'd like them to die to a mercenary - nothing. This is to keep siblings and parents and children from killing each other to get an inheritance. It's an old law and it's serious. Because the queen was now the mother of my brother, she was related to me through him. So I was protected. My mother was, unfortunately, given no such protection. So my father went along with his queen's demands and cast my mother and I out. But in actuality what he did was send us to live with his cousin, the reigning Goblin King.

"The Goblin Kingdom is far away from the High Throne and is often forgotten about despite being one of the most powerful kingdoms with intensely powerful rulers. The Goblin King took my mother and I in and, over time, my mother and he fell in love and they married. He raised me as his own and was a wonderful father to me. I could not ever inherit the goblin throne, but that didn't matter as Jareth was always the right choice for that role.

"I don't understand what this all has to do with me," Sarah interrupted.

"I'm getting to it," Jem promised. "So Ryuoth has been High King now for about a century and it…has gone rather poorly. Ryuoth is magically talented but his magic is sloppy, it is erratic and it is dangerous. This is because Ryuoth himself is dangerous. He is volatile, abusive, and disturbed and will absolutely kill you if given the chance."

"Why does he want to kill me?" Sarah argued back. "Why do I have any part of this at all? I beat the Labyrinth, I paid my price. So why won't your people just leave me alone!"

"That's exactly why you're part of it," Jem said carefully. "A kingdom must always have a ruler. The throne cannot be vacant. If one is not named or apparent, then one is chosen. Jareth does not yet have children, there are no other siblings, our parents are deceased, and I have no claim. You are the only person to ever conquer the Labyrinth. You are the only person to say the right words and oh, what words they were. Remind me Sarah, what was it exactly? My kingdom as great?"

"No," Sarah hissed. "They were just lines in a storybook."

"Oh aren't we all," Jem looked at Sarah seriously. "You wrote yourself into this story Sarah, and even when you got your 'happily ever after' you were determined to hold tight. Did you really think your friends would just happily visit you forever? That you could know about our world living in yours? You wanted everything and everything has a price."

"But If I am the queen though, what's to stop me from wishing myself back?" Sarah challenged ignoring Jem.

"You can definitely try," Jem offered collecting their mugs. "But it won't work. The Goblin Kingdom needs a monarch, and you're it chickie. If you want to go home you gotta find someone with a stronger claim to replace you."

"What if I just … give you the throne. Pass on my claim to you? Or Sir Didymus!" Sarah asked grasping at her few remaining options.

"Well I'm no good. I've already got a claim, and one to a higher throne. You can't have two claims at once. As for your little Labyrinthian friends, it won't work. The claimant needs to be Fae and needs to have either legitimate claim or be made monarch in mortem. Which if they still taught latin in schools, you would know means you have to die first. No Sarah, Jareth is it."

"And he's out there Sarah," Jem spun to face her, face flushed. "This is what I'm saying, Ryuoth couldn't have killed him, it's not possible. But what he has done is far more dangerous."

For the first time, Sarah noticed Jem looking nervous. The fae woman paced back and forth in front of the table.

"Okay this next part is a bit tricky but I need you to stay with me and please, for everyone's benefit here, don't ask a lot of questions because there's not a lot of answers I can give you."

Sarah thought about objecting but felt it was more important that Jem believe she was compliant. She wanted to hear where this was going. So she stayed silent.

"Back when you ran the Labyrinth - Jareth did the trick with moving time forward for you yeah?"

"Yeah," Sarah nodded. "About three or so hours he sort of sped through."

"Right, he manipulated time. It's a hard trick and only a few strong fae have the ability. But speeding through three hours is absolutely possible. Had he tried to go backwards three hours, well Jareth might have managed it but only just. Backwards is very hard. It is a precise and taxing magic. It must be studied and plotted before attempted and it can thoroughly exhaust someone. There are very few people who can manipulate time itself especially beyond three hours and they are all, in some way, related to the crown."

"Oh okay," Sarah snapped her fingers in realization. "That's the magic the high throne passes down. Time manipulation."

"Yes," Jem acknowledged. "But it's much more complicated than that. Suffice to say my magic is the strongest in the kingdom and only the one with the strongest magic can carry out our worst sentence. Bring our most horrible criminals to justice. The punishment is that if we find them so awful, so terrible that not one moment of their miserable life is worth keeping, is totally unredeemable - we erase them completely from time itself."

Jem paused and looked to Sarah for a reaction. Sarah tried to keep her face impassive. As soon as Jem started talking about time manipulation she guessed that removing the memory of the person might come in to play. After all, how else could anyone forget Jareth?

"It's what Jareth would have done wouldn't he?" Sarah asked. "If I had lost. Erase my brother from Above, pretend like he never existed."

"No no, it's nothing like that at all." Jem pulled out the chair seemingly trying to decide if she wanted to sit but instead continued pacing. "Your brother would have still existed. He would have lived Underground and you would have remembered him. In erasing someone from time, they never existed. No memories, nothing they ever did happens, and all traces of them vanish both Above and Underground."

"That can't be true because -" Sarah stopped herself. She was about to say she had a letter from Jareth. A photo.

"Because you remember him? Because I remember him?" Jem finished for her.

"Yes exactly," Sarah said grateful for the easy out.

"Well that's just it. Ryuoth is strong and he certainly has the ability to manipulate time. But he doesn't…he doesn't see what I see. He is not the true heir and so he isn't able to carry out the sentence. Not fully. Magic always leaves traces Sarah. Especially imprecise magic which is what Ryuoth has done. This world is bleeding because he is so focused on destroying me that he hasn't thought about the damage he's doing to our kingdoms."

"What do you mean bleeding?" Sarah asked with small trepidation. Nothing good ever came from something bleeding.

"It means that he didn't think about the hole Jareth left and now this world is trying to patch it anyway it can. That's why you're here. The Goblin Kingdom needs a monarch. But if Jareth never existed - how did you beat the Labyrinth? He never took your brother. You couldn't have fought the previous Goblin King since he was dead before your great-grandparents existed."

"Is that why Sir Didymus didn't remember me?" Sarah said putting it together. "Because I never ran the Labyrinth?"

"Yes," Jem answered. "He'll only know you as you've always existed to him - as Queen Sarah. You're queen because you beat the Labyrinth and are the strongest claim. But you never ran the Labyrinth. So the world is trying to heal itself by making it seem as though you've always been queen."

"This is completely ridiculous." Sarah said walking to the door. "I don't want any part of this."

"Sorry Sar," Jem shrugged at her, but at least had the decency to look somewhat sheepish. "You're a part of this now whether you like it or not. You can go back Above if you figure out how, but you'll just be sucked right back here."

"Well then what am I supposed to do?" Sarah demanded. "Just sit here and wait for it all to blow over?"

"I'm actually asking the opposite," Jem began fiddling with the ends of her hair nervously. "See the thing is, the reason I remember is because Ryuoth wants me to. He has made it very clear that he'll bring Jareth back if, and only if, in a fit of madness in front of the court, 'accidentally' kill myself. Thereby eliminating the threat I present and keeping me from being a martyr once people learn I was insane all along."

"That's crazy," Sarah argued.

"Yeah well, that's Ryuoth." Jem said dismissively. As though the thought that her brother wanted her to have a full on psychotic episode ending in her death in front of everyone was just an everyday thing with him. "Anyways, Ryuoth doesn't have the strength to remove someone from time completely. By him admitting to me that he'll bring Jareth back, we know he's alive somewhere. Which is as much as I suspected. And no, before you ask, I don't know where or when Jareth is. I don't know how to find him and I don't know what happens when we do. I can put him back in this world, but really the threat won't be removed until Ryuoth is dead.

"You however, are in a unique position here." Jem continued. "You remember Jareth. You know who he is and what he looks like. You can help me find him. You have no allegiance to Ryuoth so you are not bound to the rules of the high throne. You don't have any political ambitions, you just want to get yourself out of here which, as I've already explained, is only accomplished by bringing Jareth back."

"What if I refuse?" Sarah asked again, not hopeful of the answer.

"Ryuoth will kill you because you are in his way and because he can." Jem answered evenly. "It doesn't matter what you do or where you go. You are a complication he did not think about. You should not be here and you certainly should not be on the throne. We have some time until he knows what's happened but not much. You can run and hide or lock yourself away in that castle, but make no mistake he will find you and he will kill you."

Jem opened the door and began ushering Sarah towards it.

"So are you going to run or are you going to fight? I have it on good authority you're a fast runner, but you're also a hell of a fighter. Your perspective just needs some adjustment. This has been a long day so I'll give you some time to decide. But you can't take too long. Sleep on it. Get back to me."

Sarah was unceremoniously escorted out of the cottage with the door slamming on her face. She got about fifteen feet back into the forest before she decided Jem's points needed some refuting, but when she turned around the house was gone. Sarah figured the cottage was likely still there, just hidden from her now, but she didn't care enough to go thrashing around looking for it just to yell about how much she didn't care about Jareth.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay! So I know it's been a while and instead of returning bearing sexy stuff, I come with the great Exposition Chapter. Sorry, but it needed to be done. Jareth is 100% definitely in this story so don't fret. But not in the way Sarah, at least, expects. There's lots more coming to this story and I hope you'll hang out while I write it.**


	5. Convergence

_Here I am, I must be watching someone else_

 _And I close my eyes and try to see your face_

 _Someone tell the stars to go away_

 _I'd like the sky real black today_

 _So I can keep the ghost inside my skin_

 **\- Ghost Inside My Skin: Pulley**

* * *

It was well past dark when Sarah left the cottage. She hadn't realized how long Jem had spent talking. Making her way through the forest at night was much different than during the day. She wouldn't have said it was her first choice but she wasn't really nervous either. She doubted very much that there was anything in the Labyrinth that would hurt her now. Annoy her - almost definitely, but hurt?

 _Was there ever anything that would really hurt you here?_ She thought to herself quietly. Sure the firies in the forest had been frightening, but looking back, Sarah had doubts that they were particularly malicious. In fact, she'd gotten out of the Labyrinth without a cut or scrape on her. _Just some emotional scars_ , her brain reminded her.

Sarah would never admit it out loud, but standing alone in the forest at night, with all the sounds and smells of the Labyrinth surrounding her, she felt good. More than that, for the first time in a long time she felt almost peaceful, like things were finally on track. If what Jem said was true, then Jareth wasn't going to be sneaking up on her anytime soon. She was free, and her friends were safe and sound. She didn't even have hurt Jareth in the process. It was more than she ever could have hoped for. So then why was she seriously contemplating helping bring him back?

Sarah tried to make up a pros and cons list as she wandered idly back towards the castle. Assuming what Jem said was true, then her options were fairly limited. The only way she could get out of this was to somehow convince Ryuoth that she was not a threat and that all she wanted was to go home. But if he really was crazy, then there was no way he'd let her go especially given that the likelihood of her even getting an audience with him was slim to none. Though maybe Jem was wrong and that if she could just figure out her own way home, then she'd be free and clear. Sarah had doubts about this too. She had visions of Jem dragging her back by her hair - she seemed really committed to this, whatever this was.

Sarah was starving by the time she reached the castle, tea and fruit was not enough food. But she was more tired then anything else. She was exhausted both emotionally and physically and it was all she could do to slip out of the dress and climb under the covers before passing out.

In her dream she was eating. Well not eating exactly, a plate of eggs sizzled just out of reach and appeared to be wagging before her eye. Sarah slowly opened the other one, face mashed into the pillow and legs tangled between the sheets. The eggs smelled so good, she heard herself mumble towards them.

"Yes, just the finest from the palace chickens, bloody all they're good for," a voice crooned above her. "But not until you get out of this bed."

Sarah rolled over onto her back and threw her arm over her eyes. "Can't, I'm stuck," she moaned.

"Well then no eggs for you," the voice chided.

Sarah's hand shot out and grabbed the man by the wrist yanking him into the bed. The pan clattered to the floor and Sarah's eyes shifted to Jareth, lying on top of her.

"Now we're both stuck," she heard herself snark.

Jareth laughed pushing his hair out of his eyes.

"I don't seem to be quite as stuck as you yet."

"Well we can't be having that can we?" Sarah said huskily before pulling Jareth down into her embrace.

If he was at all trying to stop the situation, he made no indication. His hands snaked around her back as he pulled tighter to her. His body on top of hers, separated only by an, apparently very thin, sheet. He kissed her back just as passionately as she had kissed him, his hips grinding slowly into hers. His kisses felt like fire hitting every part of her body. It was like standing in the middle of time's square in the dead heat of summertime. All of the city lighting up inside of her. Feeling like she was in the center of it all and it was lifting her up. With air so thick she could hardly breathe. Jareth was the city, and Sarah expected to be robbed.

These kisses were dangerous, these kisses were leading to things. The Sarah on the bed seemed to be actively pushing them in that direction. While the Sarah she was, seemed to be experiencing it all but in control of nothing. It was just like the dream before. She couldn't control herself then and she doubted she could now. A small part of her asked if she even wanted to try.

Jareth slowly broke away and let out a deep breath. The tips of his hair tickled against her cheeks and she bit her lip to keep from laughing. It didn't work.

"Get your ridiculous hair out of my face," Sarah started laughing batting his hair off of her face.

"Nonsense," he dropped down on top of her, Sarah letting out a small 'oof' in response. "You love my ridiculous hair."

"You're right I do," she said idly stroking his hair as he nuzzled it into her collarbone. "It's the person attached to the hair I could do without."

Jareth let out a muffled laugh against her bare chest. The sound reverberated through her ribcage.

"Yes, well better luck next time love."

"God if only I wasn't so foolish," she sighed with mock wistfulness "then maybe I wouldn't be stuck here with you."

"A less foolish you? I must admit you're not setting the bar very high."

Sarah pulled the pillow from the other side of the bed and whacked Jareth on the head.

"Peas in a pod then?" she asked sweetly. "You're lucky I love you."

He lifted his head up and gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

"You're right," he said seriously. "I am, and I do love you Sarah."

Suddenly the dream seemed to shift. She was in the throne room and Jareth was pacing back and forth in front of the thrones, his throne, and the one that was sitting in the throne room right now. The two thrones stood side by side up on what looked like an expanded dais. Oddly it seemed both cleaner and with a few scattered extra pieces of furniture that were definitely missing in reality.

Jareth raked a hand through his hair.

"I just don't understand what they expect me to do," he muttered, continuing to pace. He kept pulling crystals from the air, spinning them once and then dissolving them. His other hand pulled at the sides of his leather jacket.

 _He's worried_ , Sarah thought to herself. The version she was in this dream walked over to him and took his hands in hers to keep them from fidgeting. Sarah had almost forgotten that she had no power here. Her first instinct was also to walk over and hold his hands.

"Hey, listen, it'll be okay," she heard herself say.

"Will it?" he looked at her seriously.

"They'll forgive you," she said gently.

"They don't have to forgive me. They can stay angry. They should stay angry, but-"

"But how do you forgive yourself?" she finished for him.

He just looked at her. It was yet another look Sarah had never seen on his face. He looked defeated and heartbroken.

The dream version of her guided Jareth over to sit by the window.

"I want you to look out there," she said gesturing to the Labyrinth, "and tell me what you see."

"Sarah-"

"No," she held up a hand stopping him. "I said, tell me what you see."

"It's the Labyrinth," Jareth said rolling his eyes. "Same as it ever was."

"I'd have preferred it without the attitude but yes, it's the Labyrinth. Same as it ever was. Which mean it's safe. Safe for creatures to come here from all over. Everyone has a purpose here, everyone feels secure. You listen to them, you help them, you open up your kingdom to them. You cannot stop a war, you cannot fix everything. You're one man, a powerful one yeah and that means you have more responsibility, but it doesn't mean you have to save the world."

Sarah tenderly pushed a piece of Jareth's hair off his face.

"But this kingdom continues to be the place where lost and lonely souls of this world and the Above can come and live peacefully. If it wasn't for the Labyrinth Jem wouldn't even be here to - "

"That's just it," Jareth said standing up abruptly, while Sarah looked on unfazed. "If it wasn't for the Labyrinth Jem would not have been kept hidden. People would know who she is and what she sees -"

"No she'd almost definitely be dead don't be so dramatic," Sarah replied. "Also you wouldn't exist and I rather like you so let's not go down the path of what ifs, I'm sure Jem's already looked."

Sarah stood up and pushed him back into his seat.

"Darling, I love you, but you're horribly myopic sometimes. Also somehow you manage to be the most selfish generous man which is a feat let me tell you," Jareth smirked and grabbed Sarah pulling her onto his lap.

"Oh I think we can both agree I can be very generous indeed," he said nibbling at her neck.

"No no," she pushed off his lap. "You're not distracting me that easily and don't pout," she said wagging a finger at his as he started to sulk. "Right, listen, every damn creature would be glad to fight for us. The clever ones can see the writing on the wall and know what will happen if we lose. The simpler ones feel indebted to us and any that don't want to fight well, I don't know about you but I'm not going to hunt them. If they want to run let them. There'll be nowhere to run soon enough."

Jareth cast his eyes over the ever changing landscape of the Labyrinth.

"I still detest calling for it."

Sarah gently cupped his face to look at hers.

"Which is why you don't have to do it alone."

"You'll stay then?"

Sarah looked taken aback.

"You really think I would?"

"It would be safer," he said seriously.

"Okay," she said calmly. "This is the last time I want to hear you say that. The Goblin Kingdom is my home. I made my decision a long time ago. I will not abandon them. Besides, what part of forever was unclear? I am where you are, always."

Jareth pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"It is true though, after you promise it, forever is never as long as you thought it would be."

"Well I intend to make it very long indeed. Really long, like rotting corpses holding hands long."

Jareth smiled against her cheek.

"Feel better now?" she asked him.

"A bit, I admit you do have a way of getting to me precious. I will…make the order tonight."

Sarah nodded.

"And I will stand next to you while you do."

For the second time in as many days, Sarah jolted awake. Again for the second time in a row, Sarah also had no idea where she was. She had expected to wake up in her bed in the Goblin Kingdom, but instead she was somewhere pitch black.

She was lying on the ground and slowly clambered upright. The ground felt like solid earth underneath her and she couldn't see where the ceiling or walls were. For a moment, she was worried she was blind. But she heard nothing, smelt nothing. All around her was just nothing. This wasn't blind, this was a trap.

"Sarah," a voice called her name from somewhere in the distance. It was him, she knew it was him, it was always him.

"What do you want?" she called back, before thinking better of her words. "Where are you?" she added.

"No try once more, ask the question you really want," he replied. His voice much closer now.

She hesitated before asking the one thing she really wanted answered.

"Why me?"

She couldn't see him, but she felt him. He let out a breath and something resembling a chuckle. She was pretty sure if she reached out she could touch him. She didn't think she should touch him.

"Because," he said simply, "you'd have never stood for anyone else."

"That's not true," she replied angrily. He had no idea what she'd been through. What she was going through right now for that matter!

"What else?" he asked, just as close as before.

"What do you mean what else? What else is there?" she snapped back.

When he didn't respond, she tried a different approach.

"I don't trust Jem."

"Why not?"

"Why should I?"

She cast her eyes around seeing if she could make out his outline. It was pointless, all that was ahead of her was darkness. But she needn't have bothered.

"That's my girl."

She more felt him whisper the words in her ear than heard them.

When she turned her head to answer him, she was back in her bedroom. Or his bedroom. The bedroom she'd gone to sleep in Underground whose possession was still up in the air. Sarah rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Okay you know what," she said to no one in particular, "getting real tired of not being able to sleep without a healthy dose of emotional manipulation."

Sarah sat in her bed and looked around the big empty room. She was anxious, stressed out, and really just wanted a strong cup of coffee. Sarah could take care of herself. She knew what to do when she was Aboveground. She had a system, a plan, and most importantly a coffee maker. She missed Emma terribly. All Sarah wanted was to vent about everything that had happened in the last twenty four hours. A neutral party who cared about her and understood who Jareth really was. She just wanted someone on her team dammit!

It wasn't just Emma, Sarah missed Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ludo. The versions who knew and loved her, not the ones who thought she was the queen. Last time in the Labyrinth she'd had allies and that had made all the difference. Jem might seem like she was an ally, but she'd also made it clear yesterday that her motivation was the kingdom and Jareth. Sarah was no fool, she was useful to Jem and that's all. She didn't blame her, in a case of Toby vs. pretty much anyone else, Sarah was hard pressed to think of someone who she'd put before him. But she'd rescued her own brother from his kidnapper without any help. Why couldn't Jem do the same?

 _Well that's not quite true_ , she reminded herself. Yeah she'd done most of the heavy lifting, but her friends were there from the beginning to guide her and make the journey easier. But they weren't here now.

Sarah threw off the covers and bounded out of bed. It was time she stopped letting herself be pushed around. She wasn't 'Queen Sarah' whoever that was, she was Sarah Williams of 33 Tribus Road, Upper Nyack and it was time she started acting like it instead of trying to be someone she wasn't. She yanked open the wardrobe and began tossing around clothes. Some of the gowns were heavy enough that they hit the ground with a thud and Sarah got a tiny thrill out of the fact that even one of these dresses was likely worth more than her entire wardrobe. She hoped they were irreparably damaged.

Finally she found what she was looking for. She clutched her pair of soft black pants triumphantly. Sure they were riding pants, but at least they sort of resembled something she might see back home. Sarah Williams was not a pretty princess, she wore jeans and sneakers. She threw on a white chemise and a leather jacket to complete the look. She already felt more like herself.

A plate of eggs and what Sarah hoped was bacon waited for her on the little table where the fruit had been. Perfect, after her dream she'd woken up craving eggs. They were sunny side up as opposed to her preferred scrambled but she'd take what she could get. Her best bet was that the castle kitchens automatically sent up her breakfast at a certain time and not that some goblin was crawling around in her room while she slept. If she could find the kitchens she'd tell them to send her scrambled tomorrow. The validity of the food she decided, was just not something she was willing to worry about anymore. Her problems were a lot bigger than whether or not she could safely eat an egg. Besides, she was starving and there was no glittery git around to tamper with it.

Now the question was, what to do about Jem? Sarah swirled her food around on her plate as she considered her options. Sarah was tempted to tell her to bite her and solve her own problems, but what would that accomplish? She had no way of getting home and Jem seemed to be able to flit about between here and Above whenever she liked if the stockpile of Red Bull cans was any indication. Working with Jem though meant she had to actually find Jareth. The thing she wanted to avoid at all costs. No matter what Jem said, Sarah was happy for Jareth to stay forgotten.

As Sarah saw it, the obvious solution was to pretend to help Jem, convince her that Jareth is being hidden Above, get home, shout about Jem not having power over her, and boom all problems solved. Once she got home a large sleeping pill should take care of the dream problem and then she'd be totally free of this giant magical headache. She'd have to rebuild the relationship with her friends of course, but she'd do that once she was safely Aboveground.

Sarah finished her breakfast feeling very pleased with herself. She always thought better on a full stomach and as usual her own brilliance had saved the day. Emma would be so impressed when Sarah told her all about it, if not tomorrow, then the day after when she was home. But now it was time to visit Jem, and put plan 'get the hell out of here' into effect.

But before she could leave, a glint of light by the window caught her eye.

Another crystal.

Sarah chewed on the bottom of her lip thinking. She wanted to ignore it. She wanted that a whole lot. But she knew if she didn't look now she would later.

Sarah picked up the crystal and turned it over in her hands. It felt just like the last one. It occurred to her that with new developments regarding Jareth's whereabouts, there was a good chance he wasn't the one sending her the crystals. How could he if he was supposedly 'erased from time', something Sarah still didn't fully believe.

"Well, you certainly look like Jareth's crystals," she mused out loud. Suddenly, the crystal burst and left another letter in its place.

It looked identical to the previous letter, and bore the same seal on the envelope. If this was a trap Sarah knew she was doing a spectacularly poor job of avoiding it.

"Well in for a penny," she shrugged ripping open the letter.

 _My love,_

 _I caught myself up all night thinking about you. I sleep so poorly now without you beside me. No one to 'accidentally' hit me in their sleep. No one to steal all the blankets. No one to curl into me in the middle of the night head tucked under my chin. I dream of lying next to you, watching the sun rise. The way your hair smells in the morning - its is intoxicating. You've reduced me to an addict, fanatical about the next time I should see you. I would abandon it all, negotiations be damned, for a single smile. My kingdom for a kiss upon your shoulders._

 _I won't bore you with the details of the bickering between Ryuoth and Fiara though it seems to be as we've feared. I ask that you speak with Opone. Arrange for him to come at once. I am not interested in hearing your protests on this Sarah. The matter is no longer up for discussion. You will do this because I ask. If you do not write to him I will send my own correspondence on the subject._

 _Please, try not to be too cross with me. I know that you are capable of smoothing things over between our kingdoms. It is imperative that we bring as many to our side as possible but without appearing as though we are preparing for war. Opone shares these sentiments and yes Sarah, that means you must apologize for the incident with the wine. Bog some goblins if it makes you feel better afterward. I know I can trust you to do this my love. I've never met anyone who wasn't eventually won over by your charms in the end. After all, they captured me._

 _with great admiration, and of course_

' _til my last_

 _J_

Well there could be no doubt about it now. He'd said Sarah, this letter was meant for her. Sarah still had no idea what any of the things he was saying meant. What was the incident with the wine? Who the hell was Opone? Ryuoth had also received a mention Sarah noticed. Obviously Jareth was working to prevent a war. But a war against who? Ryuoth? Not only that, but he seemed to be getting replies to these letters. From her? She hadn't written him anything. Also what was 'til my last'?

A thought occurred to Sarah, the only person who knew who Jareth was and knew she was here was Jem. Jem, who had magic of her own and was the sister of Jareth. Jem, who would know how to mimic his tone as she demonstrated so adeptly yesterday. Jem, who was trying desperately to sway Sarah to her cause, any way she could.

Sarah crumpled the letter into her pocket. Well it wasn't going to work. Sarah wasn't going to let Jem do to her what Jareth had tried so many years ago in that ballroom. Her heart was not so capricious as it was when she was fifteen and she'd certainly had the strength to turn him down then. Well, she could turn them both down again now.

But as neat and tidy of a solution as it was, a small part still niggled her brain. Jem said that Jareth was the dream spinner, not her. Also why would she have the dream version of Jareth tell her anything other than 'help Jem'? That last dream wasn't like the others at all either. For starters Sarah felt in control of herself. In the others she was like a spectator in her own body. Unable to control her words or actions. In the moments before she woke up, when she was in the dark, it had felt much more real. She could move around and talk.

A part of her was disappointed that she'd woken up before having a chance to get a good look at Jareth. Not that it would make much difference, as pitch black as it was. She'd stopped herself, but she wanted to touch him. Really touch him. She hadn't touched him since the ballroom and she wanted to remind herself that for all his magic and trickery he was still just Jareth. Her Jareth, not the Jareth in the other dreams with his loving words and easy smile.

She idly traced over the words. My kingdom for a kiss upon your shoulders he'd said. Or she'd said. It was hard to ignore coupled with her dreams. Unbidden, the image of her lying in Jareth's arms by the window sill danced through her mind. She could feel what the dream version of her felt. In that moment she'd felt safe and content. She didn't feel restless or angry at all. Sarah was admittedly jealous. It had been so long since she'd been able to feel like that - she wasn't even sure if she'd ever felt like that. A lingering part wanted to go back to sleep. To slip into the comfort she felt being that Sarah, lazily lying in his arms in their bed. She could even remember how he smelled. Sarah hadn't dreamt in a while sure, but she was pretty sure this was well beyond the purview of normal dreams.

What was even more confusing was how much that Sarah loved Jareth. She could feel it every time she looked at him. It was like a shot to the blood, making her heart race and steadying her at the same time. The way Jareth had looked when he was upset - her own first instinct was to go to him and make it better. Seeing that mirrored was…unnerving. She didn't much like the thought that there was a part of her that wanted to help Jareth. Was the Sarah in these letters the same Sarah she was seeing in her dreams? Was she the one who all these dresses were meant for?

A realization of sorts came to Sarah. She was the queen here, there was no king to compete with…she could stay if she wanted. Stay and be this happy and safe queen who had everything handed to her. Pretty dresses, food brought up every morning, and her own kingdom. What better way to make sure her friends were safe than to be their queen?

It was tempting. Tempting enough to scare Sarah into action. She left the rest of her breakfast and began the task of trying to get her ass home before her mind got any other ideas.

Sarah was about to head out into the Labyrinth when she passed the throne room. She caught sight of a large crowd of creatures chattering back and forth, running in circles, drinking from a cask despite the early hour, and chasing chickens. She poked her head in trying to see what they were all doing there. Goblins up to something was never good.

When the creatures spotted Sarah the entire room went deadly silent. Even the chickens stopped squawking as everyone turned to look at her.

"Uh sorry, I just wanted to … what are you all doing in here anyways?" she said suspiciously.

"Waitin' for yous!" a particularly springy goblin answered her.

"Why are you waiting for me?" she asked as the goblin bounced around the room.

"Because yer majesty, we's got grievances," a gruff looking dwarf stepped forward and for a moment Sarah's heart skipped a beat. But it wasn't Hoggle. This dwarf had a beard and was taller with a hooked nose.

"Okay well, I'm sorry about that but I'm a little busy right now," Sarah said trying to edge her way out of the room.

"But yer supposed to be holding court! This is when we air the grievances!" the dwarf complained.

 _Crap_ , Sarah thought. For some reason it never occurred to her that outside of baby napping, Jareth had actual duties as the King. Duties that had now been thrust unto her as the de-facto Queen. She couldn't hold court, she had to get back Aboveground.

"My queen please," Sir Didymus came up beside her and bowed deeply. Sarah felt pleased to see he'd stuck around. "These citizens have been waiting to speak to you all morning. If you will not take court today, when should they return?"

"Well uh, I guess…fine, no today is … fine we'll hold court," she said reluctantly. If she left like she was planning to then it might be a while before anyone was around to hold court. That and Sir Didymus was annoyingly hard to say no to. She'd go fast and get them all out of here before lunch. She headed up to the dais and flopped down on the throne. The crown remained where she left it yesterday. She wasn't really dressed to hold court, and it felt less like a trap now to wear it, but Sarah still didn't like the implications and left it sitting there. It'd probably hurt her head anyways.

The first goblin toddled up towards the throne and Sarah sighed waving him forward. She'd seen a few movies where court was held. Feeling pretty confident she could fake it she put on her best queenly expression and looked over the goblin imperiously, This would be a piece of cake, they were only goblins after all, how bad could their 'grievances' be? She'd be done in no time.

She was not done in no time. The opposite actually. The sun was setting by the time she got through everyone. Each with their own unique and complex problem that Sarah learned quickly even if it didn't seem important to her, it was important to them. She'd abandoned the throne quickly, getting down to sit on the edge of the pit putting herself at eye-level with the creatures so they were easier to speak to. Some of their problems were pretty simple. Mugwort stole a loaf of bread from Spitseck's shop, Mugwort will be ordered to work off the cost of a loaf of bread with Spitseck and learn how to make his own bread at the same time so he won't need to steal anymore. But then there was the dryad who was complaining about her trees being cut down for wood and the goblins complaining that they need the wood for their businesses and homes. That one took a little longer to sort out. Or the creature that looked like a human at first glance but then you noticed the horns and tail and spikes along their arms who wanted leave to go Above and find his father's family.

Watching the Lifetime channel's mini-series about Henry VIII hadn't really prepared her for these types of issues.

Sarah was exhausted by the time the last goblin had left her throne room. All she wanted was a nice warm bath and maybe some french fries. But in order to get those things she had to see Jem. She was about to leave when she noticed Sir Didymus had stayed behind.

"Sir Didymus, thank you for your help today," the little knight had been invaluable in keeping the order and peace during her session. He may not remember this version of her, but he was still one of her best friends and continued to help her wherever he could.

"My queen," he bowed deeply. "Err, forgive the intrusion your highness but-"

"Okay seriously, you need to start calling me Sarah," she interrupted.

"Yes my queen, that is what I would wish to speak to you about."

"Actually there's something I want to talk to you about."

"Me?" said Si Didymus surprised.

"Yes, you've been a great help to me and you were awesome today in court. I'd like you to stick close to me in the castle if you could. Stay here I mean, and advise me on all matters of er, state. I need a right hand knight after all."

"My goodness your highness, I….I would be honored. But I feel it is my duty to let you know, I strike with my left paw so I cannot be your right hand knight."

Sarah burst out laughing. She hadn't laughed much since she'd ended up back Underground. She'd missed him so much and it was the first time he'd reminded her of the Sir Didymus she knew.

"Okay Sir Didymus," Sarah said trying to catch her breath. "Then how about you be my left-hand knight?"

"My Queen I would be honoured," he bowed deeply again. "Tis' a station I shall not take lightly! I will uphold thy honour and defend thee against any who would besmirch our fair Queen's name! I would go to the ends of this world and duel any savage who dares impugn on the very nature of Sarah, Queen of the Goblins."

The title gave Sarah a start. She'd not heard it put that way before. She really was Sarah, Queen of the Goblins. Sarah also had no doubt as to the truth in his words. He would fight to the ends of the earth for her, queen or not. She suddenly felt sick thinking about how quick she was to dismiss them. That she could just go home and worry about them once she was back where she belonged. Sir Didymus would give his life for hers and she wasn't even prepared to wait a week to help him? Some friend she was. Maybe her friends were lucky they didn't know her anymore.

Sarah nodded.

"Thank you Sir Didymus, your loyalty has not gone unnoticed."

She gave the little fox a kiss on the head, which caused him to blush and stutter wildly. Sarah didn't wait around for him to finish. It was time to see Jem.

* * *

 **A/N:** Shout out to _Traveler_ by Heather Sommer as being a direct influence for Jareth and Sarah's morning makeouts' description. If you want to chat with me more about Labyrinth, about this fic or just general screaming about a certain pair of idiots, come hang out at my tumblr: ladyofstardust. Also the next chapter is 3/4 written so the next update should not take nearly as long. Hold me to that, and feel free to call me an asshole if it does.


	6. The Weight

_There's a cold heart, buried beneath,_

 _and warm blood, running deep_

 _Secrets - are mine to keep_

 _protected by silent sleep_

 _I'm not ready, I'm not ready_

 _for the weight of us_

\- The Weight of Us: Sanders Bohlke

* * *

Sarah knew she'd be able to find the cottage because Jem would want to see her. She was right, and it appeared barely ten minutes after she'd left the Goblin City just outside the hedge maze. The sun had set but a bright light radiated from the cottage's doorway. The smell of ginger and damp earth filled her senses as she got closer. Sarah gently pressed against the large, heavy wooden door. The door swung open and if Sarah had thought the smell was strong before, she was being assaulted by it now.

"You're back," Jem called from the kitchen.

"Something tells me you knew I would be," Sarah said ducking through the doorway.

"Not something, me, I tell you that." Jem replied, moving over to stir a pot. "I'm making my black stew. Super good for you, lots of old bits of magic in there. Your human magic too, the kind that's passed down through generations and seems best when made by your mum."

"No thank you," said Sarah clearing herself a spot at Jem's cluttered table. If Sarah didn't know any better, she'd think this was where the junk ladies got their inspiration from.

"Too bad you're having some." Jem ladled out a bowl for Sarah and a bowl for herself. Sarah distantly thought that there was definitely another smell in there she was unable to place, but she was distracted by the Beatrix Potter motif on the outside of her bowl.

True to the name, the stew was completely black. Sarah took a hesitant sip to make sure it wasn't actually tar. It tasted delicious. Like the heartiest bowl of stew she'd ever eaten. Instantly she felt warmer and more alert. She was really hungry having left her breakfast unfinished and skipping lunch entirely to hold her own weird version of court.

"So," Jem said sitting down with her own bowl. "I assume you've made a decision."

"Yes," Sarah answered between sips. "I will help you Jem. But know that I'm not doing it for Jareth, I'm doing it for my friends and to get my ass home."

"Eh, good enough for me," Jem said lazily waving her hand. "But I still think you're jumping to a lot of conclusions."

"I'm not jumping to anything. Brother took, labyrinth run, Jareth defeated. That was the deal and that's what I'll be working to reinstate."

"Fine whatever, you're still getting there. It's just frustrating; I forgot how stubborn you are."

"You know one day I'm going to teach a seminar. It will be called _'don't stalk humans especially humans named Sarah'_ and present it to every single creature until you finally understand that hanging outside my window looking like a bird isn't cute."

Jem shrugged.

"Maybe it's time to chop down that tree."

"Maybe it's time I friggin' _moved_ ," Sarah grumbled. "But anyways, tell me about your plan. I assume you have one? Because my plans so far have mostly involved attacking head-on but something tells me I can't just stroll into the High King's palace and punch him in the face."

Jem laughed, a laugh that was so similar to her brother's it startled Sarah.

"Well no, probably we can't do that. But the goal before anything else is to find Jareth. Without Jareth he doesn't have a bargaining chip. Not to mention the fact that I'm not convinced I can bring Jareth back if Ryuoth is dead. Also Jareth is an extremely powerful fae and would be able to aide us immeasurably. People don't think much of the Goblin Kingdom in the capital. You're kind of seen like hillbillies there because of the whole anyone who wants to live here can and the lack of pretension thing that they're so fond of."

"Lack of pretension? Are you serious? Have you met Jareth?" Sarah asked incredulous.

"Have you met Ryuoth? Yes seriously, Jareth is the fae equivalent of a shotgunned beer in a trailer park."

"No way, he's mister _'I change outfits every five minutes to make sure my clothes reflect my current mood'_ and you're really telling me he's not an arrogant jerk?"

"Sure, you and I both know he's a bit of a big headed twat sometimes, but you're missing the context Sarah. To many other fae he's very low-class."

"What just because he doesn't care about who he lets into the kingdom? That's not-" she stopped herself before she could say the final word but Jem caught it anyways.

"Fair? Yeah well, what else is new. They don't like the Goblin Kingdom because you've always been champions of the humans. There are more humans in the goblin kingdom than anywhere else Underground and the monarchs have consistently supported human and fae relationships. The High Court is still pretty conservative. A lot of them do interbreed, but nobody acknowledges it."

"I've not seen a single human yet and I just held court today which I swear, half the kingdom showed up for."

Jem waved her hand.

"Human is a pretty lose term Underground. If you look strong enough human that it's obvious when looking at someone there's interbreeding - they're human."

"So you're human then by that marker?"

"Nah, the red hair is a dead giveaway as to my identity. Almost every single true born High King or Queen has had red hair. It's a quick and easy way to know the who's who of royal bastards. If you see red hair underground, odds are they're just distantly related to the monarchy. People here are fanatical about it. To prove that they're 'royal' or whatever."

"Haven't you guys ever heard of recessive genes?"

"Let me tell you Sarah, here we have this thing called magic? Maybe you haven't heard of it."

"Fine point taken. Anyways, the only reason there are so many humans in the goblin kingdom is because he steals them."

"Don't be so naive Sarah," Jem said dismissively. "I know even you know by now he takes nothing but what's offered."

"Yes but then he keeps them when people realize 'oh shit there actually is a goblin king' because most humans aren't tuned into the whole magic thing." Sarah countered.

"Look, cliff's notes on this since this is a whole other conversation and now is not when we discuss it, but babies and kids are adopted out. They're given to families who want them here and are raised Underground. When they turn 20, they get the option to stay or leave okay?"

"So then the High Court dislikes Jareth because?"

"Because he gives them a choice. He always gives people a choice. Run the Labyrinth or lose the baby. Stay here or go Aboveground. They don't like this, feel it's beneath them and blah blah blah Jareth is too inclusive and not haughty enough about being a fae king for their liking."

"That is such bullshit," Sarah said letting her spoon clang against the empty bowl. "He's just trying to do what he thinks is right."

Jem cocked an eyebrow expectantly. Another gesture mirrored by her brother.

"Oh yeah? Tell me more," Jem prodded.

"It's just, everyone pretends it's sooo easy to run a kingdom" Sarah said, gesturing around wildly. "But you have to think about every single person and their wellbeing. Every single person! How do you do right by all of them? You can't. You just have to do right by as many as you can and hope that's enough."

"All of this from holding one day of court?"

"No I…I don't know, I mean there's a lot of things to be angry at Jareth about. I have a list. I made a list once. It was a good list. But that's not one of them. I mean I saw him and how upset…assuming that's a real thing I think…I think he really does try."

Sarah didn't even know she had those thoughts before she was vocalizing them. She felt distinctly out of sorts. She didn't know what was going on. It felt like time was moving by really slowly and her body felt very heavy. She wasn't sleepy at all though. Her thoughts felt clearer, like before each thought passed through so quickly, like a flip book animation, and now she had time to look at an examine every single one.

"What's going on?" she looked towards Jem on the other side of the table. "Why do I feel so … weird?"

"Yeah odd side-effect of black stew," said Jem leaning back in her seat smiling. "It clears the mind, and makes your thoughts come together wonderfully. But it can tend to make you a bit loopy."

"You gave me faerie food?" Sarah gasped looking at her now empty bowl.

"No I told you, it's just a bit of old magic. Won't hurt you, it just makes you a little less rigid. Your whole _'Grr, I hate Jareth, I am angry'_ schtick was starting to wear thin. This way we can skip the whole part where you agonize about helping me because you don't like Jareth and we can have a mutually beneficial discussion where everyone gets what they want."

"This is faerie food," Sarah hissed. "Magic is faerie food. You're trying to keep me stuck here."

Jem rolled her eyes.

"Okay let's look at the facts here. One, You are stuck here Sarah. I don't have to do shit. Two, All food down here is faerie food. Because of the whole, prepared from ingredients grown in faerie thing. Three, a peach once bitten stays bitten darling, which leads me to four, you've been stuck here a while now even if you haven't realized it."

That stopped Sarah in her tracks.

"You know about the peach?"

Jem nodded.

"Yeah I know about the peach."

She didn't press the matter and Sarah was grateful.

"Aren't you supposed to be building my trust? Drugging me seems pretty counterproductive to that. Also what do you mean I've been stuck here for a while? Exactly how much time has passed Aboveground?"

"Yeah trust building is for people with time. You're going to trust me because you don't have any other options."

"You didn't answer the question about time Aboveground."

"Eh, let's just say it moves differently. Sometimes things that happen Underground take Above a while to catch up. But that's not important right now, things will sort themselves out once time is repaired. Why don't we talk about your old plan. The one where you pretend to help me until I send you home."

Sarah braced herself to run or at least deny it, but Jem didn't seem particularly upset. Just lazily tilting back and forth on her chair.

"How did you know what I was planning? I didn't even say the thoughts out loud!" Sarah argued. Christ if Jem was also a mind reader she was so out of here that she'd rather jump in an oubliette than stay in this hut.

But instead Jem just laughed.

"Yeah because I couldn't see that one coming a mile away. Sarah, if you're really insistent of this I can send you home, but I give you my word that you'll just be dragged back here. So let's just skip that part because it's unpleasant for both of us."

"I don't know how you can ask this of me." Sarah said, laying her head down on the table. "I _can't_ rescue Jareth, don't you see that I can't?"

"No actually I don't," Jem replied, somewhat cooly. "What is so awful about rescuing Jareth?"

"Because he's Jareth!" Sarah moaned. "I don't need another reason."

"Sarah, I love my brother more than anyone else," Jem said sincerely. "I would happily walk into fire for him and he would do the same for me. I would and have trusted him with my life. I know to you he's your mortal enemy or something equally ridiculous, but you're wrong. Jareth is the best person I know."

"I somehow doubt that," Sarah snapped derisively.

Jem walked over and knelt down to meet Sarah's eye level.

"Jareth is pompous, arrogant, dismissive, temperamental, easily bored and sometimes downright cruel. He's a prat basically," she smiled slightly to herself. "But he's also kind and generous. He's also the person who lets anyone come to his kingdom no matter what their background or political standing. He's also the person who although he may not agree, will always listen to what you have to say. Whether you're a homeless dwarf or a sister just trying to get him to understand the virtues of a record player, he _listens_. Jareth has no interest in helping those who won't help themselves or saving the world. His greatest motivation is the people he cares about and sod the rest of it."

"If that's true," Sarah said rolling her eyes at Jem's speech. "Then where's the proof? You can tell me Jareth's the greatest till your face turns blue for all I care. But tell me one thing he's done to prove to me that he's this wonderful person you claim he is."

Jem paused, hesitating.

"He's already given it to you Sarah, he gave you his name," she said carefully.

"What does it even matter if I know his name!" Sarah shouted.

"Because names have a power," Jem answered. "Come on Sarah, don't play games here. There's a lot Underground that's ruled by the Old Rules and Old Magic and names are one of the oldest magics of all. Jareth only gives his name to those he cares about."

Sarah thought back to the letters burning a hole in her pocket. How had he signed them? J. Nothing else.

"But that's stupid!" Sarah said frustrated. "Besides he didn't give me his name, I got it from Hoggle who I know he doesn't care about."

Jem tilted her head and looked at Sarah askance.

"You really think he doesn't care about his citizens? You think him so cold hearted that he doesn't care whether they live or die?"

"No I mean, it's _Hoggle_ , he threatened to throw him into the Bog of Eternal Stench if I so much as kissed him on the cheek. Also just because he cares about his citizens doesn't mean he cares about me. And why should he? I don't care about him."

"Okay," Jem stood up and dusted off her skirts. "First of all, the Bog of Eternal Stench last I checked, was not lethal. You can't even drown in it, the water is too shallow. Second of all, Hoggle wouldn't have mentioned it to you if you weren't allowed to have it. I'm not sure he physically could. But even _if_ he could, it would be more than his life is worth to mention it to you. Third, you forget I've been watching you for a while now Sarah. If you really didn't care about him you wouldn't be spending so much of your time prepping to see him again. You may not like him, but Sarah you're downright obsessed with him. Don't pretend otherwise it's beneath you."

"I don't care about him!" Sarah stood up knocking her chair back. "I want him to suffer, I want him dead, I don't want him in my life at all!"

"No," Jem said evenly. "You don't want him dead. You just want to prove to yourself that you were right and he was wrong. You want him to feel as bad as you did the moment you wished away your brother. You want to have all the power he had over you in that moment and shove it in his face. You want him to suffer for totally uprooting your life, changing what your normal was, and for putting you in a position where he offered you something you wanted so bad it ached and knowing you could never take it. Am I getting close here?"

Sarah began pacing around the cottage. Jem had no idea what she was talking about. She was just manipulating the situation to get what she wanted. She was preying on the weakness she'd planted in Sarah through her dreams.

"Stop trying to spin everything in his favour! I can't even get one minute of peace in this place! I go to sleep and there's Jareth is trying to show me what a good fucking guy he is by one of you leveraging his sexuality again. Then I wake up and come here and you lay it on real thick with the whole 'Jareth is the best person I know he gave you his name' thing and -"

"Wait stop, go back," Jem said waving her hands. "What do you mean you go to sleep and there's Jareth?"

"Now you're the one who's playing dumb with me," Sarah chided. "I know you're the one who's been sending me those dreams."

"What dreams?" Jem said quietly.

"The ones where Jareth and I are married and ruling the kingdom together and he keeps trying to jump my bones," Sarah said waving a hand dismissively. "Don't even start with me, I know how you people and your little games work."

"Sarah," Jem said slowly. "I need you to tell me everything that happened in your dreams right now."

"Stop it," Sarah said, rolling her eyes. "The jig is up, you can stop pretending and let's all just move on."

"No Sarah," Jem grabbed Sarah's arm and yanked her over to sit on the bed.

"Ouch!" Sarah said rubbing her arm. "What are you doing?"

"This is important," Jem hissed. "I didn't send those dreams. Couldn't. Dreams aren't my thing. Now tell me what happened in them so I can figure out what the fuck is going on."

Sarah narrowed her eyes at Jem critically.

"You swear you have no idea what I'm talking about?"

"I swear," replied Jem immediately. "This is…this changes things. You need to tell me what happened Sarah. We need to figure out what in Underground is going on."

Sarah was about to open her mouth and tell Jem all about her dreams when something stopped her. Thinking about the way Jareth had looked at her, the way he'd laid on her chest so naturally. How his kisses made her feel even if they weren't real. The smell of him nestled next to her. No, Sarah decided. That was not Jem's to take.

"Basically they're all variations on a theme which is Jareth and I are married and we live together in this castle. He's King, I'm Queen. Oh, and in one of them he's upset about having to call for something in the kingdom but I don't know what. He also keeps talking about a war."

"Is that all you remember?" Jem probed.

The feeling of his head resting against her chest and hair tickling her chin intruded into her thoughts.

"Yeah pretty much," Sarah lied.

Jem stood up and started to pace around the room.

"Okay, then I need to ask and I need you to be honest here because it's important. Are these dreams - how do you experience them? Like watching a movie? Or are you actively participating?"

"It's somewhere in between. It's like, I'm experiencing it all first hand, but I don't control my actions or words."

"Okay but do you feel what your dream self feels? Like if she takes a sip of tea do you taste it?"

Another image, this time it was the taste of his lips as he kissed her. The damn black stew was making it impossible to focus her thoughts.

"No," she lied again.

"Okay," Jem replied still pacing in front of Sarah. "And this is the only contact you've had with Jareth since he's been here right?"

"Should I be expecting more contact? I thought you said he was erased from time. How am I even having these dreams?" Sarah said, carefully deflecting Jem's question.

"I don't know," Jem snapped. "It's not like there's a precedent for this."

"Well I don't know!" Sarah snapped back. "Apparently there's a precedent for erasing someone from time so excuse me for not being up to date with how magic works!"

"I'm just trying to figure out what's going on here!" Jem shouted.

"Yeah well so am I!" Sarah shouted back.

Jem stopped pacing and turned to look at Sarah.

"You're right I'm sorry," Jem said collapsing down on the bed beside her. "There's a number of things this could mean. Some of them good, some of them bad. Either way, I want you to start keeping track of these dreams, they could be the key to finding Jareth."

"Jem there's something else you should know," she was having a really hard time shaking the images of Jareth lying peacefully next to her. "Something about these dreams…it doesn't feel right."

"How so?"

"Well, the first thing you should probably know is that after I returned from the Labyrinth, I wasn't able to dream. It's certainly possible I was dreaming and just not remembering any of them, but I haven't had even the barest hint of a dream until two days ago. When suddenly it was like I was dreaming in technicolor. Everything is very vivid and let's just say that some of the events are becoming increasingly intrusive," Sarah didn't want to elaborate on this matter further. But if Jem had any idea how to keep Sarah from thinking about kissing Jareth again then she wanted it now.

Jem gave Sarah a long look and for a moment Sarah was worried she knew what Sarah was seeing. She knew that she was thinking about Jareth kissing her again and again and how easy it was. How relaxed she felt. She was suddenly very tired.

"Okay, Jareth is the king of dreams -"

"I thought he was King of the Goblins," Sarah interrupted.

"That's who he's king of, not what he's king of. So being the king of dreams, I think it's safe to assume that some of the typical rules with dreams don't apply here."

"Okay…." Sarah said slowly. "So what does it all mean?"

Jem flopped backwards onto her bed.

"I don't know Sarah, why don't you tell me what you think it means?"

Sarah fell backwards lying next to Jem. She hadn't noticed before but Jem's ceiling looked an awful lot like the night sky. There were stars painted above her and Sarah was pretty sure she caught a shooting star wiz past. It was a nice reminder that sometimes magic could be beautiful, but it could also be frightening.

"I think…I did think that you were just putting the thoughts in my head to get me to agree with you. To help find Jareth. Especially since these dreams are all showing me Jareth at his most pleasant."

"But you don't think that anymore," Jem replied lazily.

"I don't know what I think," Sarah replied honestly. "It's hard. I don't think anyone is giving me credit for how hard this is. If I find Jareth and bring him back, I'd be going against the thing I've been working towards for five years. You weren't wrong. It's been my only goal for a while now. I don't know why. I tried to have another life. I went to university. I had an apartment for a while. But I just ended up … stuck. That's what you said right? Stuck. I don't know, I just don't know. I thought all I wanted was to keep my friends safe,"

Jem turned onto her side and left Sarah to continue her rambling. She wasn't sure where she was going with this only it seemed very important to say.

"I had so many plans you know," Sarah said turning to face Jem. "But they all went away. Or I made them go away. Or something. But I'm scared now, I can't remember the last time I was this scared."

"What are you scared of?" Jem asked in a whisper.

"A lot of things," Sarah answered truthfully. "I'm scared about why I'm leaning towards bringing him back. I'm scared about what's going to happen to my friends. I'm scared about why Jareth seems to have such a hold on my life. I'm scared that it'll never go away. I'm scared that I'm stuck here for good and I'm scared that a part of me thinks that's not so bad."

Sarah took a deep breath and looked back up at Jem's ceiling. Were the stars the same here?

"But the thing I'm most scared about," Sarah said in the barest whisper of a voice. "Is that I want to go to sleep so I can see him again."

"You miss him," Jem offered.

"No," Sarah curled up onto her side. "I don't think you can miss someone you don't really know."

Sarah felt herself begin to cry. She didn't really know why she was crying, but she couldn't stop.

Jem reached over and pulled Sarah into her arms.

"Why is this happening to me?" she sniffed between tears. "Why are you putting me through this? Couldn't everyone just leave me alone to live my life in peace? Haven't I earned that?"

"I'm sorry," she said stroking her hair. "I didn't want to do this either. I'm sorry for giving you black stew, but I needed to know what you weren't saying last time we met. I needed to know … that you were ready I guess."

Sarah let herself be held by Jem as she cried. It had been so long since anyone had comforted her.

"I feel like I'm caught in a ghost story," she mumbled through her tears. "Everywhere I go all I feel haunted by him."

"Sometimes things aren't always what they seem," Jem said softly.

"I'm so tired," Sarah murmured. She was, her body felt like it weighed a million pounds and her eyes were struggling to stay open.

"Then sleep Sarah," Jem whispered. "It's alright, just go to sleep,"

Sarah couldn't have fought her if she wanted to. The last thing she saw was the stars on Jem's ceiling blinking back at her.

* * *

 **A/N: Unofficial title for this chapter: Stop Being Mean to Sarah She is Having a Rough Time. But seriously, this girl going through a lot right now. Nothing like being stranded in a strange place where powerful people are trying to kill you and having no one you can trust around including your own mind, to really bring the fun. Next chapter should be soon. Also pornographic. You've been warned.**


	7. Scars

_Even that hardest of hearts unhardened_

 _Suddenly when he saw her there_

 _Persephone in her mother's garden_

 _Sun on her shoulders, wind in her hair_

 _The smell of the flowers she held in her hand_

 _And the pollen that fell from her fingertips_

 _And suddenly Hades was only a man_

 _With a taste of nectar upon his lips_

\- Epic pt II: Anaïs Mitchell

* * *

 _I wasn't supposed to be here_ , she thought as her boots kicked through the dirt. The stars were shining brightly above her as she slowly slipped between the trees. No, she should definitely not be here. Anywhere else really would be better. Sarah didn't know why this version of her was so against being here yet seemed to be trudging forward. Until the clearing came into view.

A beautiful, enormous bonfire lit up the scene. With flames that had to be reaching a height of well over 100 feet. Despite being surrounded by trees, nobody seemed the least bit concerned that they could catch light. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this was a magical fire.

Upon closer inspection she noticed the fire was creating shapes and figures in its flames. Sarah saw a couple dancing, a man falling, a couple kissing before being pulled apart, glass breaking and a woman screaming. Each one felt just a little bit wrong.

Around the fire a group of about a hundred people congregated.

 _No, not people_ , her brain reminded her. Though it was a momentary mistake as none of the guests resembled people in the slightest. All of them were dressed as various creatures wearing elaborate masks and costumes. Some were dressed as animals she knew like panthers and wolves. Others were harder to recognize but Sarah saw a few kelpies, dwarves and brownies.

The bodies danced wildly around the fire. Cheering and singing loudly. Drinks were being passed around and shared freely as the fae roared with excitement. A large buffet was overflowing with rich foods and roasts of animals larger than her. She knew better than to touch any of the food or drink as it would almost certainly be drugged to lower inhibitions. Sarah knew looking around what this was a celebration for - it was Samhain, and she had crashed the festivities.

Wandering closer she caught a glimpse of herself in one of the mirrors laid against trees for easy transportation to the event.

She barely recognized herself. Her hair was wild and teased and stuck up around her head. On her face was a beautiful mask that Sarah felt strongly resembled an owl with its beak, wide eyes, and brown and white markings. Her clothes were torn and dirty with several skirts in brown, olive green and grey layered on top of one another. The bodice looked like an old corset that had been stained many times over on top of a dusty blouse. Sarah thought it might have once been white but now was more of a faded yellowy brown. Without sleeves and nearing winter, Sarah was kept warm by the fire and the energy of the bodies dancing around it. Most significant of all, Sarah noticed her pendant was missing.

 _Or not my pendant_ , she reminded herself. _His pendant_.

She breathed in the smell of the fire and the burning wood and let it give her courage. The fire would burn until the dawn, symbolizing the end of the old year. She knew some of these fae would take the opportunity to go Aboveground and wreak a little havoc with the locals, but the majority would stay here and enjoy the party. Each kingdom had their own unique celebration and the Goblin Kingdom was no different. Sarah was also keenly aware that there were a number of visiting fae from other kingdoms who were sampling the festivities this evening, and that she needed to be careful to avoid them. Easier said than done when everyone was wearing masks. But they weren't who she was seeking as she moved through the dancers. They laughed in her face as her pretty owl mask helped her blend in.

Unable to warn herself, the Sarah in her dream grabbed a peach from one of the tables. She tossed it back and forth in her hands as she surveyed the scene. There were tents erected all around the fire with different activities taking place. Some of which were more scandalous than others. On the other side of the fire, an elf juggled several balls of blue flame that changed shapes as they spun, but next to him was a tent which Sarah could see several unclothed bodies all tangled together.

Sarah began to maneuver around the dancers, careful not to let any of them capture or distract her. She was looking for someone, someone so important. But she couldn't remember who. She took a bite of the peach. It tasted unlike any peach she'd ever had before. Earthy and slightly sweet but with a hint of saltiness. The orange juices ran down her chin, adding to the stains on her dress.

Suddenly she stopped. A smile came to her lips as she lazily turned around. _Ah_ , she heard herself think, _there he is_.

He stood perfectly still. He was dressed to compliment her, even if he didn't know it. His artfully tattered jacket matched the browns and greys of her dress perfectly, the off white of the shirt underneath similar in hue to her stained corset. But on his face he held up a heavy stone mask. The horns on the end of the mask grazed the tips of his hair and he looked every inch the fearsome Goblin King.

He took the peach from her hand and took a matching bite. She smiled languidly. "I thought I'd find you here," she heard herself say.

Suddenly the Goblin King looked angry. Roughly he grabbed her arm and began dragging her back into the cover of the trees.

"You should not be here," he hissed. But the Sarah she was seemed unconcerned.

"I had to see for myself," she heard herself argue back.

When they were far enough outside the edge of the clearing, Jareth threw her roughly against a tree pinning her in place, his gloved fingers digging into her wrists suspended above her head.

"It is dangerous Sarah. Humans are banned from Samhain. If one of them had captured you -"

Sarah looked up at her hands, currently held in place by his. "It looks as though one of them did," she said challenging. Sarah felt, rather than saw, Jareth's interest as he pressed up close against her.

"Why did you come here Sarah?" he whispered into her ear.

"I told you," she said, and Sarah realized she sounded slightly out of breath. Her own interest was becoming hard to ignore as well. "I came to find you."

"Why?" Jareth hissed back, the heat of his breath on her neck sent a rush through her.

Sarah felt herself struggle against his grip but he held tight. She knocked the peach from his hand as it rolled into the dirt. His mask long since fallen by their feet. Jareth saw what she was attempting and carefully pulled loose the strings and watched as her mask fell next to his.

 _It was always the same with them_ , she distantly thought. His eyes were always so intense, like they were trying to pull her towards him.

Sarah stared at him and smiled.

"Because I wanted something," she said slowly.

She closed the short distance between their mouths enveloping him into a hungry peach-flavoured kiss. Her sticky mouth tearing into his and he responded with an equal fervour. He kept her hands pinned as he began to arch against her. If there was any doubt before just how much he wanted her, it was long gone.

Sarah struggled again against his hands but he was not letting her free.

"No," he whispered into her mouth. "I warned you about being captured."

Frustrated, she pushed against his hands again.

"Let me go!" she demanded.

"So you can do what?" Jareth asked as he leaned in to lay kisses along her collarbone.

"So that I can rip every inch of those clothes off your body," she replied evenly.

"Hmm," Jareth said pausing in considering. "A tempting offer."

"So then let me go."

"No I don't think I will," he said lazily returning his attention back to her collarbone, moving his kisses slowly up to her neck.

"Well then," she said seriously, "I hope you have a plan for what happens next since as long as your hands are pinning mine, then there's not much either of us can do is there?"

Jareth laughed into her neck.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that," he murmured.

He proceeded to trail his kisses along her neck, coming to rest at the top of her breast. Slowly, he pulled down the fabric with his teeth to reveal her bare chest. He murmured his appreciation as Sarah felt him circling her nipple with his tongue. With his teeth, he softly bit around her taut nipple. She felt her knees start to go weak. Sarah felt, that however much he desired her, she desired him equally as much. Without a warning, he sucked her breast hard, making her knees buckle. She wanted to scream, but held to the urge.

In her haze she hadn't noticed his hands pulling his shirt from his pants.

"Hey!" She heard herself explain when she realized her hands were still bound. He'd magically kept her pinned in place while his hands were free to roam.

"Shh," he said placing a hand over her mouth. "If they hear you, they'll all want a taste."

"And we can't be having that hmm?" she teased.

"I don't share Sarah," he said with authority as he slowly removed his gloves, tossing them to the side. The intimacy of him baring his hands to her was not lost on Sarah, and she absently wondered who else he'd touched without his gloves.

"So you admit it, you do want me?" she said triumphantly.

"I should think that, at least, was obvious by now." She felt her heart begin to race. Whether it was really her heart or just this Sarah's, she didn't care anymore. She was tired of these dreams leading nowhere and all she wanted to do was touch him. She wanted to touch him everywhere. She strained against the bonds again but knew it was pointless. If Jareth didn't want her free, then she wasn't getting free.

He crushed his lips against hers and there was an urgency that wasn't present before. She kissed him right back, just as hungrily. She arched against him as much as the binding would allow but he pushed her back into the tree, grinding his body into hers. Sarah felt the bark begin to dig into her back as the tree scratched against her. She didn't care.

He pulled away from his kiss and returned his attention back to her breast. She wanted to scream his name, and was grateful she wasn't in control. He looked up at her and their eyes met. Sarah had never seen them so dark. He stopped and smirked at her before continuing his work.

"This is hardly a fair fight." she hissed.

His tongue rolled down her breast as he slowly trailed one hand up her leg, meeting in her middle. Trailing the tips of his fingers over her skin before coming to rest on her mound, Sarah was flushed and felt heady with desire. Without warning, he began to caress her.

"I should make you suffer, let you writhe and moan under me until you regret coming here tonight." he whispered into her ear as she tried her best to contain her cries. "You do know how you tempt me?"

"Consider the feeling mutual" she whispered back, utterly failing at keeping her voice steady.

"All is fair in love and war," he replied

Sarah was about to respond but he began to speed up his fingers and her words were stifled by a moan. This was absolute agony, she was going to come completely undone.

"Shh pet," he whispered. "They mustn't hear you."

Her head was swimming. He wasn't letting up at all, her breathing was rapid as she approached the edge. She wanted to badly to go over it but he stopped her just short. Sarah shot a glare at him.

"While I appreciate the enthusiasm," he said, bending over to pick something off the ground. "You were making a rather telling noise just now and I did warn you."

"What are you doing?" Sarah barely had time to get the words out before he stuffed a piece of soft leather in her mouth. It only took her a second to realize what it was - his glove.

Sarah turned to glare at him and found him staring intensely at her, all of the playfulness gone from his face.

 _Oh_ , she thought in that split second before his body devoured hers.

Sarah brought her leg up around his waist as he pulled the front of his pants down. She felt him brush against her slick inner thigh. Her entire body felt like it was on fire, pulsing with how much she needed him. She arched her back, pressing her body against his, and she heard him let out a low moan.

He pressed further up against her, grazing her entrance. Sarah cried against the glove and he brought one arm around her waist, pulling her on top of him. Sarah felt her knees begin to buckle but Jareth held her up steadily, laying a trail of kisses from her neck to her breast as he thrust against her. Sarah felt the heat of each delicious gasp against her collarbone as she moved with him. She dimly agreed with his choice to gag her, as she'd long given up trying to control her cries.

Her back scratched against the trunk of the tree. The bark leaving her raw as she rubbed against it and Jareth pushed her roughly and harder against the tree. Sarah felt his breathing grow more rapid and he brought his hand back down to caress between her thighs. She tensed against his touch as he began to move more quickly, giving her no relief. The heat burned through her body, as she writhed against him. She felt herself creep to the edge again, and this time she felt Jareth fall with her as the sensation washed over her.

He slouched against her, leaning back into the tree that had shielded them so well.

"Sarah," he said taking the glove from her mouth. He brushed his lips over hers and smiled. The tips of his fingers grazed her bare shoulder.

"I'm afraid I may have left a mark," he said, examining where his teeth met her flesh.

"You were waiting for this," she said, quite pleased with herself.

Jareth released the bonds tying her hands, and the sudden loss of suspension caused her to fall on top of him. Crawling in the dirt in the nook of the tree, Sarah pulled herself up as best she could.

"I should go," she said gesturing to the bonfire. "They'll be waiting for you."

She extended a hand towards him. He took it, pulling himself upright.

"No, we should go," he answered, and began to walk away from the flames and into the woods. "Are you coming?"

She smiled and grabbed his forgotten gloves, running after him into the darkness.

Sarah woke up covered in sweat and out of breath. For a moment she forgot where she was, but the redhead lying next to her helped jog her memory.

"Jem," she said trying to catch her breath. "What time is it? Have you been here all night?"

Sarah was lying under the covers and threw them off her, she was sweltering. She was surprised to see that she'd gone to sleep apparently just in her underwear as she was almost positive she was wearing clothes when she went to bed.

"Hey quick question," she tried to say casually. "Where are my clothes?"

Jem propped herself up on one arm.

"Well you fell asleep and you seemed to kind of go into a trance. I heard you mumbling a few words."

Sarah's entire face felt hot. The image of Jareth's tongue trailing over her breast - not the sort of thing she particularly wanted anyone overhearing.

"So I just put you to bed but then you started looking like you were trying to get your clothes off so I just helped you out and took them off and tucked you into bed. You calmed down a bit after that."

"Where did you sleep?" Sarah asked trying to dodge any discussion of what exactly had happened in her dream last night.

"Here, it's my bed - where else would I sleep?" Jem said rolling off the bed. "But I've been up for hours now, it's nearly 11, you slept like the dead Sar."

Sarah grabbed her clothes off the ground where Jem had left them. These dreams needed to stop. They were getting more intense and Sarah was beginning to depend on them. She didn't want to be awake, she wanted to be in that clearing, with her back pressed up against that tree. She wanted to eat those peaches and dance around the fire. Every time she woke up she felt this terrible ache in her chest. Like she had been ripped away too soon.

But at the same time, she wasn't prepared to stop the dreams. They were … enjoyable. It was nice to have one place, just one place where it was safe to give in. They were only dreams after all, they couldn't hurt her. And it wasn't like she controlled her actions in them, so really it should have been a guilt free experience.

So then why did she feel so guilty?

It was a hard thing to wrap her head around. She wanted to stop feeling like she was being manipulated into caring about Jareth, but she also still wanted to see Jareth and find out who he was for herself. The letters and the dreams were the first time she'd actually had a chance to, in a way, get to know him. She'd been so busy imaging him as the storybook villain that she'd forgotten to grant him the same curtesy she'd granted everything else in this place; that nothing was what it seemed. So while she wasn't ready to go all in on the forgiveness train, she was significantly less interested in punching him in the face.

Well, not totally uninterested. He probably still deserved at least one punch.

Or a kiss. One little kiss, she reasoned with herself, there was no way a single kiss could hurt. What was it that he had said to her once? A basis for comparison? She'd deny it to Jem but a part of her was curious. Would his kisses feel the same in real life? Would they feel as all consuming and earth shaking as they did in her dreams? When she kissed him in real life then she'd know that it was all just a dream and had no basis in reality. It would give her closure and the story would have it's proper ending.

She was pretty aware that this was a significant deviation from her plan of three days ago, but there was no reason she couldn't go backto the plan if she needed to. This was really a lot less effort and she needed to be pragmatic, first goal was making sure her friends were safe. After that it was getting her ass home and then Jareth could factor in however Jareth wanted.

"So you want to tell me what's up?"

"What's up with what?" Sarah asked, feigning ignorance. She had a pretty good idea where Jem was going with this. If she could only find her boots she could get out of the line of fire.

"Wellllllll…" Jem drawled, "I thought we kinda came to an understanding where you tell me about your dreams and then we work together to find Jareth and stop the whole megalomania riddled king."

"No part of that dream is helpful," Sarah said dismissively.

"So why don't you share with the class and then we can talk about what is or isn't helpful. There might be something you missed."

The image of him moaning into the crook of her neck flashed through her mind.

"I'm not even sure it was a real dream, I barely remember it and there were parts that didn't make sense," Sarah said telling a half truth. She doubted she'd forget that dream as long as she lived, but there were definitely parts that didn't make sense. Namely why she was having sex with him. Well, admittedly that part would have made a lot less sense a week ago, but generally Sarah felt confident that her first instinct with Jareth was not to jump his bones.

"Sarah, stop dodging," Jem said seriously.

"I'm not dodging," Sarah replied, finally pulling on her boots.

"I'm trying to be nice you know," Jem said quietly. "But I could compel you to tell me."

Sarah spun around. Jem did not look so cheerful anymore.

"Then do it," she challenged.

Sarah watched Jem look at her for what seemed to be a long time. Finally she let out a sigh and slumped down into her chair.

"Just go," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "Come back when you're ready to get serious."

"I am serious."

"No," said Jem, raising her voice. "I thought you were but you're not. You're just the same spoiled, selfish little girl you've always been. You think you're the only one in this story. That this is about you and your life. Here's a shocker, it's not. I swear…if I was jerking you around half as much about your family as you've been jerking me around about mine."

"Don't," Sarah said, suddenly very angry. "Don't you dare talk about my family. You want to talk about doing anything for your family, that's great. But don't forget the reason you're stuck in this mess with me is because your brother couldn't keep his hands off my family. So don't talk about family and jerking anyone around, and definitely don't talk to me about keeping secrets because there's a crap load you're not telling me either."

"I have that right!" Jem argued back, "You are making decisions about the situation because you think you know better. You think 'there's no possible reason Jem could need these details'. But you do not have the information to make that call."

"Yeah because assholes like you never think that maybe, just maybe, there's problems that could arise from not giving me all the information. That maybe there's something you're not telling me that could help me find Jareth but you're not telling me because you worry that I won't want to help Jareth when I hear it."

"God you're so much like him sometimes it's infuriating! Not everything is about you Sarah! There are things you can't know because no human knows them. Then there are things I can't tell you because nobody knows them and nobody _should_ know them. The only reason they're coming into play at all is because Ryuoth has messed everything up and put the throne in danger."

"Throne be damned, he's put _us_ in danger and you further that danger by playing into his hand of not telling me," Sarah snapped.

"There are some things you can't unlearn!" Jem shouted.

"Yeah just like there are some things that don't concern you!" Sarah shouted back.

"If it's about my brother it concerns me!"

"No! This is about me. Sometimes it _is_ about me. You don't get to have everything just because you want it. My dreams are mine, you can't have them," Sarah replied, before storming out of the cottage.

"Do you think I care about what you and my brother get up to in your dreams?" Jem shouted after her. "You think I don't know? You wake up flushed and panting - yeah like that's a hard one to figure out. That you're too embarrassed to tell me you just had dream sex with my missing brother tells me just what a good decision I'm making here."

Sarah was proud of herself for not flinching. She didn't look back, she just kept walking. Was it so wrong for her to want to spend some time sorting out her own feelings? Was it really awful that she wanted to keep that one moment just between the two of them? Even if it wasn't real, even if none of it was real, it felt real to her and that meant something.

She was so lost in her train of thought that she nearly tripped over a loose stone. She kicked the stone out of her way and saw it fall downwards into what looked like a pit.

 _This whole place is falling apart without Jareth_ , she thought.

She kept walking. She didn't know where she was going, but the Labyrinth must have figured it out before she did. It took her right where she needed to be, back to the start.

Sarah stepped out beyond the outer wall of the Labyrinth. The walls were overgrown with lichen as the fairies flitted around the eye stalks. She leaned in to get a closer look at a fallen fairy when she heard him.

"Careful, they bite," a gruff voice said.

Sarah smiled and turned around.

"Well what else would fairies do?"

"Oh," Hoggle said, dropping his spray bottle. "It's you. Shoulda known."

He began to back away and Sarah figured she had about thirty seconds before he bolted.

"Hoggle wait!" she held up a hand. "Please, just…wait."

"You knows my name?" he said, stopping in his tracks.

"How could I forget?" She sat down on the edge of the reflecting pool and patted to the spot beside her. "Please, sit. I want to show you something."

Hoggle hesitated but Sarah didn't push him. She extended her hand towards him.

"Look there, on my index finger," she instructed. Hoggle leaned over, unmoving from his position.

"Yep, that's a fairy scar, sure as I ever saw one." Hoggle said with conviction. "How'd you get it? I didn't think you ever came this far out. Only sending your army after innocent old gardeners."

Sarah pulled her hand back.

"No, I mean, yes. Yes, I should have come to ask for you myself. I'll add it to the list of mistakes I've made lately. As for how I got the bite, that's a long story. You sure you don't want to sit?"

"What story is that then?" Hoggle said gruffly, not moving from where he was standing.

"Well I suppose it starts with me telling you about a silly young human girl named Sarah," she started.

Sarah told Hoggle everything. She felt she owed it to him, more than anyone else. After all, he was her first friend and without him she'd have lost Toby forever. The only parts she left out involved Jem's relationship with the High Throne. While she talked, Hoggle moved closer to sit down next to her and Sarah hoped more than anything that he would believe her. She just needed someone to believe in her.

"I know you have no reason to trust me," she finished lamely. "But I promise you, everything I'm telling you is the truth."

"Okay," Hoggle answered quickly. "I believes you."

Sarah had the distinct impression he was just saying that to placate her. But she'd take what she could get.

"What do you think I should do?"

"What does it matter what I thinks?" he quizzed her. "I'm nobody."

"Because you're my friend and you're not nobody," she said grabbing his hands. He pulled back and Sarah felt her heart ache. "Also, because I think you know the most about the Labyrinth and how it works. You gave me the best advice before 'nothing is what it seems in this place.' So I have to remember not to take anything for granted, like my friends.

"Well I can tells you this much," Hoggle replied, avoiding looking at her. "The High King scares me and I don't want nothing to do with him."

"Yes," Sarah conceded. "But you were also scared of the Goblin King before. He terrified you. Do you really want that back?"

Hoggle huffed in annoyance.

"Never been a Goblin King or Queen I ain't scared of. You scare the dung outta me."

Even though Sarah knew it was true, it still hurt to hear. Her best friend was scared of her.

"Why are you scared of me though?" Sarah asked, pleading. Maybe if she could figure out what she'd done wrong?

Hoggle shook his head.

"No, you's not asking the right question. I already tolds you, I's scared of all the Goblin Kings. But I'm still here. Still doing my job and living in the Goblin Kingdom. I ain't no goblin, but this is my home."

Sarah thought for a moment about what he was saying. She hadn't really thought about it before, but he wasn't a goblin - so what was he doing in the Goblin Kingdom? Why did Jareth trust him with his name? Sarah realized he was one of the wanderers who took advantage of Jareth's open door. He was scared of her, but he was scared of all the Goblin monarchs. It wasn't personal.

"So what makes the High King different?" she asked finally.

"Ah," said Hoggle, nodding in approval. "The High King don't just scare me. He scares everyone. Including goblins and they's too stupid to be scared of much. But even they knows to be scared of the High King.

"It's been a long time," he continued, knotting his hands. "But I remember what it was like, during the last war. Even if you win, you's never left with much. Just your life. You gotta want just that. There's a long of young blood that don't remember what a real war is. They can keep on that way cause I don't want to fights no more."

Sarah smiled sadly and stood up, extending her hand once again to Hoggle.

"I'm going back to the castle now and I'd like you to come with me. But I want it to be your choice," she said quickly, seeing the fear on his face. "I don't want anything from you, just to keep me company and help me figure out what to do. Sir Didymus is already there, I told you about him, and I'll tell him who you are. I just…I would feel safer with you there Hoggle."

"Ohhhh…alright," Hoggle exclaimed, giving in.

Sarah's face lit up and while he didn't take her hand, he let her lead him back to the castle. Which was more than Sarah could have hoped for.

When she undressed that night, Sarah found a sizeable mark that looked astonishingly like a love bite, right at the crook of her collarbone.

* * *

 **A/N: Gotta earn that M rating. I knew I had to get this chapter out before Halloween. Also how glad are you to see Hoggle? I'm pretty happy as he seems to be the only one with any sense around here.**


	8. Down Again

_`Well, now that we have seen each other,' said the Unicorn, `if you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you. Is that a bargain?"_

― Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There: Lewis Carroll

* * *

She couldn't sleep. Tossing and turning in bed, Sarah had a pretty good hunch that her lack of sleep was less to do with alertness and more to do with nervousness.

He had left a mark.

How? How could he have _possibly_ left a mark on her shoulder? It was just a dream. Just a stupid, meaningless dream manifested by a drug laced stew.

Sarah had examined the spot in the mirror when she undressed. It looked for all the world like someone had sunk their teeth in. An activity that had definitely taken place in her dream last night. Which she had found…pleasant.

Pleasant was about all she was willing to concede even to herself. Pleasant could be a lot of things and didn't require a great deal of thought. Nothing called pleasant ever needed mulling over. Warm water was pleasant. Scented candles were pleasant. Otherworldly kings tying her to a tree and fucking her senseless were not pleasant. They were incredible. But incredible was lightning, not a light breeze. And Sarah knew better than to chase storms.

Or she used to think she did.

Sleep ever elusive, she sat in bed reading the only thing she had on hand - his letters. They felt like him. The penmanship, the phrasing, Sarah didn't know how she could have thought they were written by anyone else. They were him all over. Even the only Jareth she could truly claim to know, the Jareth she had met all those years ago, was here on this page. He had warned her too. His kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder. He'd gotten his kiss and she'd gotten the kingdom. She'd have accepted an apology.

Sarah decided she couldn't be in this room anymore. If she wasn't going to sleep she could at least get something done other than angsting over his letters, hoping they'd tell her something she didn't already know. She grabbed a green shawl and wrapped it around her shoulders. She looked at the letters laying on the bed. She hesitated for a moment before tucking them into her nightgown.

Sarah wandered around the castle. The hallways were completely empty. Not even a stray chicken crossed her path. As she walked, the sconces lit her path and extinguished themselves when she turned a corner. Walking along lit by magical fire in her castle wearing a white night dress, she felt the very image of those heroines she used to so idolize. But they weren't real and their lessons wouldn't save her this time. She'd wanted this so badly once, but it wasn't what she thought it would be. Used to being alone for so long now, she didn't realize how cripplingly lonely she'd feel here. Chasing after the ghost of a man who she was beginning to doubt she ever really knew at all. At this point she'd be thrilled to learn that there'd been a mistake and the only thing standing in her way was a wife in the attic.

Sarah found herself back at his study. She reasoned that she hadn't really properly looked last time she was there. If anything, there might be clues, something to help her find Jareth. Though how she was supposed to find someone who didn't even exist Sarah had no idea.

The study was eerie this time of night. Like the hallways, the room lit up when she walked in, but Sarah still felt uncomfortable. It was like walking into the bedroom of someone who had died. Seeing all their clothes laid out for the next day that they were never going to wear again.

Sarah wandered over to the previously untouched bookshelves. She pulled books at random, flipping through them. One of them had to be in English considering Jareth could speak it so well. Technically she was right, there were books in English, but they were odd - books about urban planning, politics and diplomacy, which in itself wasn't weird except how they referenced events Aboveground and were clearly designed for the non-magical audience. There were also a couple of fiction books. The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland and Jane Eyre. It wasn't until Sarah pulled out a copy of a particularly familiar old and worn red book that she realized.

These were her books. It _had_ been her handwriting before. This wasn't his study, this was herstudy.

Sarah opened to the last page of the book, where she'd made so many notes in the margins, trying to remember those final lines. While her name was still scrawled in the back, all the other notes in the copy were gone. _Strange_ , she thought.

She sat down at his desk and looked at the papers scattered there. The same as before, all written in languages she didn't recognize. If she was supposed to be patching up a wound in time, shouldn't she be able to read them? If she was supposed to have 'always' been queen, then would she suddenly understand after Jareth had been gone long enough? Was this knowledge that was just bestowed on the queen upon taking the throne?

She reached over to grab the previously written letter. There was no way she could have written this, parts of it sounded like her, but this was her handwriting and she couldn't remember writing it. Then again, there was no way this could be her study, but here she was, believing it was her study. A thought occurred to her, should she send it? Could she send it? Was he urgently waiting for a reply from her? Was it possible that all she had to do to find him was write and ask where he was?

Sarah looked at the page. It might have been signed with her name but this was not her letter and wasn't the first thing she wanted Jareth to hear from her. She pushed it aside and grabbed a blank piece of paper. It took her a couple of tries to get the hang of writing with a pot of ink but she managed.

" _Jareth,"_ she began. It seemed silly not to use his first name, even though she'd never spoken it to him out loud.

" _I have no idea if this will ever reach you. I am not even completely sure why I'm writing this. Probably because this is the only communication I have with you in this realm. At least, I assume it's you. This could be going to someone completely different in which case, you should probably ignore the rest of this letter? Sorry that was an attempt at a joke. I am kind of freaking out here so it'd be really great if you could come home."_

She was rambling, she knew she was rambling, but she didn't really know what else to do. This wasn't a face to face confrontation like she'd planned, and she didn't have his lead to play off of. A letter was all she had.

" _Because I miss you."_

It was such a small thing, but Sarah's hand shook writing it out. Because of course she missed him. How could she not? It seemed important that he understood.

" _Please, come home. I don't know where you are, I don't know how to help. I'm supposed to be queen here and everything I do seems to upset someone. Hoggle is scared of me, Sir Didymus treats me like royalty instead of his friend, and no one has even seen Ludo in ages._

" _I want to know if you're sorry. Sorry for what you did and sorry for what you left me with. I'd like to know why …but I have a feeling I already have the best answer I'm going to get there. I also don't even know if it matters anymore. But it would be nice, it would go a long way, if you could just tell me you're sorry._

" _But for the record, I'm not sorry. I would do the same thing, I'd make the same choices if I could go back and do it all again. I'm not sorry, but I still miss you. Come home, tell me where you are, help me find you so I can tell you how not sorry I am to your face instead of this stupid letter."_

Sarah hesitated before signing it with a simple _'Sarah'_. She folded the letter into thirds and placed it on the desk. She had no idea how she was supposed to get the letter to him. It was harder than she'd thought, writing it all out. She laid her head on the desk. It was supposed to be her office, but the whole room smelled like him. Smelled like his magic. She thought about that tree and the crook of his neck. How he always smelt faintly of smoke and embers. The tips of his hair brushing against her cheek. Then for the first time that night, Sarah was able to relax and drift off to sleep.

* * *

She considered herself carefully in her vanity's mirror. She looked beautiful, her hair was done in a loose up-do and there were iridescent filigree fairy wings holding them in place. There couldn't be a veil, a distinctly Aboveground tradition, as it would impede the crown. But she had insisted on white.

Though the dress itself had ended up being closer to silver. It shone like the clearest lake and had an iridescent quality so while she got to wear her white wedding dress, Sarah still shone with every color of the rainbow as she moved. Not that he would care either way, he respected that there are some things that would always be very human about her, despite how long she'd lived Underground.

No, there were other people who would be watching for every human choice she made. Every sign of human weakness. Despite centuries of inter-marriage, it was still incredibly controversial for Jareth to be making her, not just his wife, but his queen. Human brides were almost never given the title of queen, lady was as high as they were afforded. Even then, these were women that were only half human at most. Sarah didn't have a drop of magical blood in her, as her opposers were quick to point out.

"Sit still," the woman hissed as she put the finishing touches on the eye make-up.

The woman had beautiful dark curls and eyes as black as anything she'd ever seen. But this close Sarah could see the little flecks of gold that made them look like stars. _Yara_ , she thought. Things were coming more quickly to her now. She wasn't guessing as much what was going on, she just seemed to know where she was and who this was.

She smiled at her reflection and gently touched the markings around her eyes. Yara had done them for her, to surprise him.

"There," she finished, beaming at her. "You're done." The markings were different depending on whose kingdom you served and Yara had given her the mark of the Goblin Queen.

Sarah grinned and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Thank you so much, I couldn't have done it without you," she said sincerely.

"No you couldn't have. But I think I'm getting the better end of this deal anyways."

"Yeah, thank your lucky stars you get me instead of Fiara."

"Could you even imagine her trying to deal with the goblins?" Yara said, laughing. "Actually nevermind, I take it back, I would pay to see that. Go somewhere else for a little while until I've had my fun and then I'll let you come back and marry Jareth."

Sarah gave Yara a short jab between her ribs. "Nice try, but this is happening today come hell or high water. Can you go get Elia for me? I have something I want to give her."

"Oh I think I can do you one better," Yara replied, ducking out of the room.

She saw his reflection in the mirror, slipping in her bedroom door, just like old times. _What old times?_ It was getting harder to remember the difference between this Sarah and herself.

"Sarah," he called to her. She still got goosebumps whenever he said her name, like he was whispering a half forgotten prayer.

She spun around and began throwing her leftover hair pins in his general direction.

"You idiot, you're not supposed to see the bride before the wedding!"

Jareth batted away her pins playfully. "That's just silly Aboveground superstition, meant to keep grooms from catching sight of their intended and fleeing before the marriage could be completed. You would have to be very strong indeed to keep me from you today."

"Well then maybe I'll run," she teased playfully.

"Maybe you will," he acknowledged, moving closer towards her. "But maybe I'll catch you."

"I dunno, I run pretty fast," she said, standing toe to toe with him.

"Well then good thing I had a back up plan," he said smirking.

"A back up plan?" she asked, and reached out to touch the loose strands of hair grazing his shoulders. He'd tied it back for the ceremony, but left a couple strands unsecured. She loved his hair. Loved running her fingers through it and knowing she was the only one allowed to touch it, and touch him, like that.

"Yes, would you like to see? Or should you prefer to stay here?"

The glint in his eye told her all she needed to know.

"Show me, it's not like they can start without us."

The dream shifted and suddenly Sarah was standing on the top of the hill, overlooking the Labyrinth.

"Where we first met," she said, smiling to herself. "I mean not exactly, but close enough. I think we'd both rather forget that bedroom."

Well that all but confirmed it for her. If she had any control of her own body she knew she'd be sick to her stomach. This is what would have happened if she had said yes. This is the life she could have had, that they could have had, together.

That small part that she felt she could ignore if she just pushed it deep enough. The hesitation in that moment that she tried to cover up even as she spoke the words. Sarah had always assumed he knew. He knew her hesitation. He knew that for a moment she wavered in her resolve to help Toby. The next time they met she expected that to be the target of his attacks on her. But instead she was standing there, in a wedding dress that reminded her just a little too much of _that_ dress, and he was back all in white, reaching out towards her.

This time she didn't hesitate to take it.

Gently he laid a kiss on her forehead.

"I want to thank you for the grace with which you have managed the lead up to this day."

"it's nothing I can't handle. After all, I have been training for years now."

"Yes but it's rather different when these things become personal. Even I have had trouble managing it at times. But you never wavered or shied away from your duties."

"Unless they were ridiculous," she interjected.

"Well I'm rather glad you put your foot down about the chalice, I've never heard it described as pleasant."

"Yes, ancient magic sounds cool, until you learn that it is essentially congealed blood and peyote on steroids and I have no interest in letting that happen to me on my wedding day," she said dismissively.

"I am equally glad you insisted on the white dress. I admit, I had never imagined my bride in white, but there is something indescribable about it. It is as if I could look at you the rest of my life and it would never be enough, and yet so familiar, like a forgotten dream."

Sarah wished she could at least roll her eyes. Of course he'd noticed it too. A call back to the ballroom on their wedding day of all days. But this Sarah didn't seem to mind.

"So why did you bring me here? Just to steal a private moment before the wedding?" she asked.

"On the contrary," he said, stepping away from her slightly. "This _is_ our wedding."

Sarah looked confused until Jem stepped out from behind the tree.

"You're here," she said, shocked, before turning to anger. "What are you doing here? You can't be here, it's too dangerous."

Jem waved a hand dismissively.

"I cannot stay long. I've laid a bit of a…distraction elsewhere Underground that will let our fearless king believe he's caught me trying to come home for your wedding. Should keep him busy long enough for me to join the two of you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well you see, as the queen I can marry you two right here right now.

"Sarah," said Jareth, seriously. "I know what this day means to your people. I considered us married the moment you agreed to be my queen, all the rest is just politics, putting on a good show so the other high families have a chance to meet you. Under normal circumstance we would ask for permission of the High King to wed, but-"

"But because he is not the true king, it is ceremonial." Jem finished for him. "Without permission from the crown, this wedding would be illegitimate. However I _am_ the crown and all I need is a witness to make this marriage legal and valid."

"We'll still do the ceremony, it is still necessary I'm afraid, but I wanted to give you this private moment. Call it my wedding gift...do you accept?" he added with a touch of hesitation.

Sarah bit her bottom lip in a false show of concern before she couldn't hold it in any longer and broke into a grin.

"Of course I accept!"

"We knew you'd never agree to me risking my neck coming down here," Jem offered, "and there's a human saying about asking for forgiveness instead of permission."

Sarah laughed and threw her arms around Jareth's neck.

"Well you don't need to ask for either if you hurry up and marry us already!"

"Don't you want to see who our witness is dear?" he purred in her ear before directing her attention to the far side of the hill. There riding his steed like his life depended on it Sir Didymus came charging at them full speed ahead.

"Your highnesses!" he cried and Sarah waved her hands frantically to shush him. Ambrosius came to a screeching halt and Sir Didymus catapulted off the dog and onto the ground in front of Sarah's feet.

"Sire, my ladies," he greeted, jumping to his feet. "Sir Didymus at your service! I will fight and win against any who would threaten the validity of this marriage. I stand for true love and justice!"

"I called in an old friend," Jareth whispered.

Sarah bent down and kissed the little fox on his nose. "Thank you Sir Didymus, for coming."

If foxes could blush Sir Didymus would have been red from head to toe as he fumbled with his hat, giving a long bow to the two monarchs. "An honour," was all he managed to squeak out.

"Now," Jem announced. "I think it's time for the vows so we can just get on with this thing already."

Sarah smiled and took Jareth's hands in hers again. "Don't worry," she said. "I've been working on this for a while."

* * *

The dream shifted and suddenly Sarah was standing somewhere very familiar, and she was alone. The whirring of the tracks, heaters buzzing, and the tinny sound of the announcements - she was in the city waiting for the subway. Sarah hadn't realized it until now, but it was so _loud_ here. She was used to the silence of the Underground. Here the machines, the speakers, and even the lights humming seemed deafening. It was hard to think about why she was here until she saw her.

The subway platform wasn't packed like it normally was during rush hour so Linda stood out, standing on her own. Her mom looked younger than Sarah remembered and was carrying a brown bag of groceries. With her free hand she was reading a very beat up copy of The Crucible.

Sarah looked around, she didn't see Jareth anywhere. Why wasn't she standing with her mom? More importantly, why was her mom ignoring her? Sarah couldn't have been more than ten feet away, surely her mom would have seen her, play or no play.

She walked towards her mom, and waved her hands a few times in front of her.

 _She can't see me_ , Sarah realized.

The subway appeared and Sarah watched her mother step on. She followed her into the car and watched her sit down. Her mom seemed perfectly content and Sarah wondered what this had to do with anything. It felt like the rest of the dreams, but with a setting and people she recognized. The subway car's lights flickered and Sarah stood watching her mom read her play until she got off at the stop for her old apartment, the one she lived in shortly after divorcing her dad.

 _That's odd,_ she thought to herself. _Mom hasn't lived here in more than ten years._

Sarah remembered hanging out in the hallways of her building and riding the elevator up and down pressing the buttons for anyone who got on. Her mom sometimes needed her to play outside, but the city wasn't very kid friendly and Sarah never wanted to go far without her mom, so she hung around the building chatting with some of the residents there. She remembered Mrs. Fanelli letting her eat with them when her mom forgot to call her for dinner, and the older man who lived across the hall who played his old big band records and taught her how to play the harmonica while her mom was off rehearsing her latest monologue.

She watched her mom enter the building and waited watching from the sidewalk. The light for her old apartment turned on and a moment later Sarah watched Jeremy, her mom's old boyfriend, return to what was presumably still his home.

 _Jeremy and mom broke up when I was a teenager, this must be something that happened years ago,_ she concluded.

She could feel him before he spoke.

"Did you see what you needed to see," he asked from behind her. Sarah still watched the light from the apartment and saw the silhouette of her mother greet Jeremy.

"She's still with him," she replied quietly. "She's never going to leave is she?"

Jareth didn't reply. Sarah turned around to look at him.

"Is she happy?" she demanded.

He shrugged.

"Not any more or less than you'd expect."

Sarah glanced back at the light.

"So it was all for nothing."

"No, she got what she wanted."

Sarah paused for a moment before wrapped the startled Jareth in a hug.

"Let's go home," she whispered into his chest.

She felt him nod as he wrapped his cloak around them and everything turned to darkness.

* * *

It was a moment before Sarah realized where she was. She was back in the dark room. But she knew what to expect this time. At least she could control her words and actions again.

"Jareth?" she called out.

"You're not paying attention," he replied, sharply.

"Jareth where are you?" she asked, both in the general sense and the larger problem of his location.

"You keep going left and right."

"That doesn't tell me anything!" Sarah stomped her foot in frustration.

"You have to remember the rules," he hissed. She felt him closer now.

"What rules?" Sarah snapped.

"You must always go forward. She chose down…down…down. Never left or right. That is the way to certain destruction."

"Why can't you just give me a straight answer?" she whined.

"Because," he answered in a whisper. She still couldn't see him, but she could feel him. It felt like he was right in front of her. She reached out her hand to touch him and only grasped air. "That is the way things are done."

She felt him shove her and she lost her footing, falling downwards. Before she could land the sensation jolted her awake.

* * *

Sore, and cranky from sleeping on a desk, Sarah peeled off the paper that had gotten stuck to her face overnight.

"My lady I'm sorry to disturb you," she looked down at the little fox brandishing a letter.

"Sir Didymus I didn't hear you come in," she replied, unceremoniously wiping the drool off the side of her mouth. _Very queenly,_ she thought dryly.

"I'm sorry my queen but this matter could not wait," he thrust the piece of paper he was worrying between his paws towards her.

Sarah didn't bother correcting him on the queen issue and took the paper from his hands.

"No it's fine, I shouldn't have been sleeping here anyways - what's going on?"

"It's the High King," Sir Didymus squeaked. "He's requested a meeting, he's on his way now!"

Sarah's heart dropped into her stomach.

"Crap."


	9. The False King

" _He was shaken by the overwhelming revelation that the headlong race between his misfortunes ad his dreams was at that moment reaching the finish line. The rest was darkness, 'Damn it,' he sighed. 'How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!"_

― The General in His Labyrinth: Gabriel García Márquez

* * *

Sarah took the letter from the fox and scanned it quickly. It didn't make a difference the letter wasn't written in English.

"Sir Didymus can you tell me exactly what this letter says?"

"No my queen," the fox said shaking his head. "It's written in High Fae, it is forbidden for us to learn the language but surely…you speak it fluently?"

Sarah huffed in frustration. Of course she didn't speak it.

"Well then how did you find out who it's from and when he's coming?" she inquired.

"The letter was sent through the royal channels!" Sir Didymus replied indignant. "I know a royal seal when I see one my queen else what kind of knight would I be?"

Sarah bit her lip in concentration. She needed to know what to expect but more importantly, what the hell was going to happen now.

"Didymus, is there anyone in the kingdom who can translate High Fae? Like if say, hypothetically, I forgot the language."

"Forgot the language my queen? But that is impossible!"

"I said hypothetical! But who speaks High Fae in the kingdom?"

"No one my lady," Sir Didymus replied looking more and more distraught. "The Goblin Kingdom is solitary - no other nobility live within its limits."

Sarah sighed heavily. This was way too much to deal with first thing in the morning and especially too much for a land without coffee.

"Alright, I need to speak to someone but in the meantime," Sarah looked again at the letter she'd written the previous night. It seemed like such a stupid idea now. Absently she tucked it into her nightgown with the rest of the letters. "In the meantime I want the castle to prepare properly for a visit from the High King. I won't let him find any excuse to complain about our kingdom. Roll out the red carpet for him if you must."

"Roll out the red carpet?" Sir Didymus repeated in confusion.

"It's an expression, it just means, make sure he is treated like the king he insists he is."

"Of course my queen," he bowed deeply enough that his hat fell off and Sarah made a mental note that when this was all done she would buy him the fanciest hat he could ever want.

She intended to follow Sir Didymus but she was interrupted by Hoggle, worrying his hat between his hands, and looking for all the world like he wished he was anywhere else.

"Hoggle," Sarah said, greeting him with as warm a smile as she could muster. If she wanted him to stop being so afraid she had to appear as non-threatening as possible. Difficult when she'd only been awake for fifteen minutes and already wanted to scream and go back to bed.

"Yer Majesty," he replied bowing awkwardly. "I was hoping you might let me go home now? If that's alright?"

"But Hoggle," she said standing, making her way towards him. "You just got here. Why are you leaving?"

Hoggle took off his hat and began worrying it between his hands.

"I heards that the High King was on his ways. So I thinks it about times that I on my ways as well."

"Hoggle don't worry," Sarah reached out to put a steadying hand on his shoulder but the dwarf shied away. "I won't let anyone hurt you."

"Yer Majesty, I'm not sure there's much you cans do. So I'm gettin' out of here before the fightin' starts."

"My Queen!" she heard Sir Didymus cry from the hallway, "I have word that he is in sight of the Dark Gate!"

Hoggle started to back quickly towards the door.

"Ohhhhhh I'm outta here!" he cried before fleeing into the hall.

"Wait Hoggle!" Sarah cried, chasing after him.

The dwarf pulled an old painting away from the wall and disappeared. Sarah grabbed the same painting preparing to chase him behind whatever door he'd gone through, but instead she fell through an archway. She started falling downwards headfirst.

Sarah couldn't see where she was going let alone where the ground was. She braced herself for a rough landing, hoping that nothing would break. The sleeve of her nightgown caught on a rock and ripped, but it managed to slow her down enough so the fall was more bearable. With a thud, she landed in a pile of rags.

"Okay ow," she said rubbing her head, "where am I?"

Looking around, she saw only stone, windowless hallways in front of and behind her. A leaky pipe dripped, echoing through the chamber. She realized she was back in the tunnels under the Labyrinth, the last time she'd been down this way she was chased by the Cleaners. Ideally she wanted to avoid that happening again.

"Hoggle!" she cried. "Where are you?"

But as far as she could see, there was no one else down here. Sarah started walking forwards, keeping an ear to the ground for any mechanical rumblings. As she walked, she pushed on different parts of the wall, she wasn't going to be making that mistake again.

"I really should have been using this time to prepare for the crazy monster magical tyrant who is on his way here to confront me," she mused out loud. "But noooo had to go exploring in the tunnels where I almost got killed last time. Great job, good planning Sarah."

She walked for what felt like an hour, pushing on every other stone. She was getting a very uncomfortable sense of deja vu.

"Goddamit," she muttered. "I'm supposed to be the queen you think the damn place could give me a rope or guide or something!"

As she said it, she pushed against a piece of stone that, to Sarah's great relief, gave way. _Finally_ , she thought, pushing harder against the rest of the wall. The stones moved backwards giving her just enough of a gap to squeeze through into the next room.

The deja vu got stronger as Sarah surveyed the contents of the cavern. There was a rumbling of stone as the giant False Alarms came awake.

"My Queen!" "Your Majesty!" "Our Queen!" they cried as they spotted her.

Sarah smiled fondly at them. They had been the least harmful of all of Jareth's traps and she'd felt sorry for them as they begged her to say their spiel.

"Hello False Alarms," she greeted, touching the nearest one gently on the nose. "How are you?"

"Good! Not many runners down here lately! You must be doing a good job defeating them!"

Sarah shrugged and started to walk between them.

"Or maybe people don't take things for granted so much anymore."

The alarms paused as if in thought.

"Nahhhh," they shouted in unison.

"Beware!" one of them cried. "Stop what you are doing and turn back!"

Sarah laughed as she walked by, craning her neck to see if there were multiple paths she could take to get out of this cavern or just one winding road.

"Oh I know, you have to do your little speech, go ahead get it out of your system," she called to them.

"Leave this place at once!"

"There is nothing for you here!"

"Beware the further you go the closer you are to doom."

"Certain destruction lies ahead."

Sarah came to a spot where the cavern split with a fork in the road. Trying to tune out the sounds of the alarms she cast her memory back to the last time she'd been down here. She wasn't sure which one would lead back to the castle, but she'd take anything that wasn't these tunnels at this point. She started to go right when she got an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Her hands started sweating and she began to feel slightly dizzy. She looked down the path of the tunnel, it was only darkness. But still, something didn't feel right.

She kept going along the path, but each step she took, she was becoming more and more sure that something was wrong. Her head was pounding and her vision began to blur. It was so hard to think with the false alarms yelling in the background. Why was she here again? What was she even doing in these tunnels?

Sarah turned around and walked backwards towards the alarms. Her breathing slowed and the pulsing in her head began to subside. "False Alarms," she asked them, they'd stopped their shouting for the moment. "Did you see a small dwarf come this way? Possibly muttering about keeping out of trouble and kings and queens?"

"Yes my queen," one of them thundered in response. "We have seen the dwarf."

"Great," Sarah said relieved. "Which way did he go?"

"We can't tell you that," another alarm answered. "It goes against the code."

"What code is that?"

"That we can only lead travellers astray, never helping them find what they're looking for. If we started doing that then we'd be out of a job!"

"But I'm not a traveller," she argued.

"But you still seek something," the nearest one answered. "That makes you a traveller."

"Well," Sarah paused thinking. "Does it matter that I'm the queen and I'm ordering you to tell me?"

"No," they all replied in unison.

"Figures," she muttered. "Well how about this, if I started going left, would you say I was on the right path?"

"That depends what you're looking for."

"The dwarf - his name is Hoggle," Sarah replied, frustrated.

"Are you sure that's what you seek?" another alarm asked.

"Yes," Sarah said, impatient. Hoggle knew these tunnels better than anyone and if she wanted a chance to catch up she had to get going.

"Then I would say that way led you to your doom," the alarm answered.

"Great!" she started down the road going left.

"Wait!" the farthest alarm cried, "Don't say we didn't try and warn you!"

Sarah noticed a ladder imbedded in the wall and relief flooded through her. A way out.

Sarah noticed a ladder imbedded in the wall and relief flooded through her. A way out. Sarah smiled as she climbed up the ladder. They had to get bored shouting the same things over and over for whoever knows how many years. Hoggle had been right about them, pay them no mind they're harmless.

She pushed the cover off the top of the ladder and crawled out onto the stone floor. "Okay bye guys!"

Hoisting herself upwards, she realized that she'd somehow managed to wind up back in the throne room and Hoggle was nowhere to be found.

Instead there was a dark haired man, sitting in her chair, wearing an ivy and rose circlet around his head.

"Fuck," Sarah hissed when she realized what had happened. She'd stumbled out of the tunnels and right into her meeting with Ryuoth.

"My Queen," Sir Didymus cried from behind her and she turned around to see him dressed in red and navy, the same colors the High King was wearing. The little fox looked at her horrified and Sarah realized that she hadn't made it through the tunnels unscathed. Her nightgown was ripped and covered in dirt, her hair was tangled from sleeping on it and she'd managed to get a couple scrapes climbing up a ladder that probably hadn't been used in years.

 _Ah well, nothing for it_ , she thought to herself. She drew herself up to her full height and tried to pretend she hadn't just crawled out of a hole in the floor and that there wasn't chicken poop on her hem.

"Your Highness," Sarah bowed. She took a guess that all the other monarchs bowed to the high throne.

"Sarah," said Ryuoth rising from her throne. Sarah noticed he did not address her by title. "I'm afraid I've stolen your seat, your...seneschal informed me it would be best to wait for you in here. It appears he was right."

He wore long navy and red robes, and all Sarah could think when she looked at them was that it reminded her of blood and dark water. His eyes appeared black, but when she looked closer, she noticed that they were simply a very dark shade of blue. He kept an easy neutral expression on his face but Sarah knew that was more for his benefit than hers.

The fact that there weren't any guards or other Fae around told Sarah two things. One, that he wasn't worried about his safety with her. That meant he was arrogant and two, that anyone who visited a rival monarch without some kind of protection was powerful. Dangerously powerful.

Sarah didn't know what he knew about her so she made a snap decision that the best thing she could do would be to act like she knew what was going on. She'd had enough practice with the Fae to know that they pounced on any sign of weakness.

"I'm very sorry for presenting myself in such a state," she answered smoothly, trying to channel Jareth as best she could. "I was dealing with a rogue citizen who has since been dealt with accordingly. If you'd grant me a moment to change into something more appropriate, I'm sure Sir Didymus can arrange to have some food or drink brought to you."

"Ah don't worry Sarah," he replied, brushing her off. "This is a social visit, and I will not be staying long."

For some reason his use of her name so freely made Sarah bristle. She wasn't sure what the protocol was for addressing another monarch, but she didn't like the way her name rolled off his tongue. When Jareth said it, her name was a promise, when Ryuoth said it, it was a threat.

"I always enjoy a social visit Your Majesty," she said pointedly. "But I'm afraid your

letter was waterlogged by the time it reached my hands, the ink ran and I was unable to make out the purpose of your visit."

Sarah took a chance on the lie, she didn't want Ryuoth knowing she couldn't read High Fae.

"Did it?" Ryuoth wrinkled his nose in annoyance. "How frustrating. Well, I'll simply have to reprimand the messenger that allowed it to reach such a state."

Sarah kept her face impassive, trying to ignore his threat. If he planned on killing the messenger, her pleas wouldn't save them anyways and would tip her hand too soon. She had to believe it was an empty threat, designed to get a rise out of her.

"Nevertheless," he continued. "my purpose here is simple. Tell me where the Raven is and then we can all be on our way."

"The Raven sire? I don't know who you're talking about," she said carefully.

"No?" Ryuoth stepped closer. "You're quite sure about that?"

"Yes," Sarah answered coldly, meeting his gaze.

Ryuoth smiled lazily in response. "Well then perhaps you can tell me where Jareth is?" he began to slowly circle her. "Or are you unfamiliar with him as well?"

"He's out," she responded simply.

"Out?" he prodded.

"Yes."

"Do you know when I could expect him back?"

"Hard to say with Jareth," she answered shrugging. She'd read somewhere that the Fae folk were incapable of lying. She wasn't sure if that was actually true, they certainly had their ways around those rules either way, but she did know that she was bound by no such rules and had every intention of lying her ass off. It was after all, her human right.

"Interesting that you knew who I was referring to," Ryuoth replied, continuing to circle her. "There's not many people left in this world who would know that name. But maybe you're not from this world are you Sarah?"

"Jareth is my husband," Sarah said taking a risk.

"So it would seem," Ryuoth said reaching out to touch her pendant with his gloved hand. "Are you missing him Sarah? Or maybe there's someone else you're missing. Perhaps your father? Or your baby brother? Toby was it?"

His tone remained light but Sarah knew what he was implying. She opted to say nothing, trying to keep her face as neutral as possible.

"Tell you what Sarah," he responded evenly. "You tell me where the Raven is, and I'll make sure you don't have to worry about missing anyone ever again. You'll find I'm nothing if not fair."

The way he drew the final word out told Sarah that he was probably well informed about her history. Sarah seriously wished she'd thought to at least arm herself before this meeting. It was becoming increasingly tempting to just shoot first and ask questions later.

"There's a lot of ravens in the Labyrinth," she responded. "I couldn't possibly know which one you're looking for but you're welcome to take a look around."

"This raven is unique. You'll notice it by its ability to turn into a woman."

"Can't say I've seen any ravens turning into women," Sarah said taking a step towards him. "But I'll keep my eyes peeled."

Ryuoth paused for a moment, considering her. He smiled "Sarah," he said raising a hand to stroke her cheek. "I admit I see the charm, nothing compared to the High Fae of course my dear, but nevertheless it would be a shame to waste it. I appreciate beauty, even on a human."

Without warning Ryuoth grabbed her by a chunk of her hair and yanked her to her knees. Sarah couldn't keep from crying out with pain.

"But I similarly do not tolerate insolence. A human never stands in the presence of a King, not even one so foolish as to think herself above her station. She will kneel until her knees are raw and bloody until she learns some respect. Now, where is the Raven?"

Sarah bit her lip to keep herself from saying something she'd regret. She was unarmed and he had magic on his side. This was not a fight she could win.

"Not ready to answer me yet?" he said mockingly, peering at her curiously. "Well, that's alright, nobody has corrected your poor manners in years. In this world Sarah, there are consequences for not answering when your king is speaking."

"You're not my king," she hissed. Sarah hadn't meant to say anything, but she'd never been good at learning when to keep her mouth shut.

Ryuoth raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"So she has courage. But she lacks common sense. You know I've always wondered why your kind are so liberal with their lives. I suppose on some level you understand that you don't matter."

Sarah didn't respond.

"Come now, I thought we were having such a nice talk Sarah. Or are you so ready to be finished with the conversation part of this meeting? Would you rather we move along to the physical - I'd like to see how you scream under my touch Sarah.

She couldn't keep back a shudder at the thought of his hands on her. Ryuoth noticed and gave a crooked smile in response. He reached down and took Sarah's right hand in his. Gently, he placed a kiss on the back of her palm. Then, without a second thought, he snapped Sarah's wrist between his hands. Sarah heard the bone break as the pain flooded through her. She screamed before he let her wrist drop, before grabbing the other and breaking it similarly in two. The bone pierced through the skin and Sarah felt she was going to be sick.

Her knees gave out and Ryuoth grabbed her by the waist.

"You thought I wanted to sleep with you? That I would debase myself to touch a human in such a way? Courage is one thing Sarah, but I'm not sure I've ever met someone so foolish before. Coming to this meeting dressed in such a way that even the goblins would take offence, lying to my face, insulting me - what did you expect to happen Sarah?"

Sarah could only watch helplessly as her head swam with pain and the blood began to pool out of the broken skin around her wrists. She looked to the doorway for Sir Didymus, for anyone, to help her, but she and Ryuoth were alone.

"Answer me!" he shouted as he struck her across the face.

But everything she'd said had only made it worse. If he was going to kill her she could at least keep her friends safe. Isn't that what she'd always promised? To save them from the tyrannical king? Well she'd make good on that at least.

"Which bone shall I break next hmm?" he whispered into her ear. "I'm going to break it regardless, but as this is your first offence I find myself being merciful. Your face? Shall it be your jaw? Perhaps your eye socket? What about your sweet little nose? Or should we stick to the hands and I break what's left of those bones?"

Sarah was only dimly aware of what he was saying. This wasn't how this was supposed to go at all. She was supposed to be armed. She was supposed to have a plan. She was supposed to have back up.

"Stop," she managed to choke out.

"Why?" he replied with mock curiosity. "If what you say is true and you don't know the Raven, well then nobody will care if the human monarch from a backwater kingdom is executed for treason. Now if you are lying to me, as your kind are wont to do, well then, I simply cannot have liars in my midst Sarah. That won't do at all."

And with that, he squeezed his hand around her waist and Sarah felt like her chest was caving in. There was a sharp pain and the wind was knocked out of her. She struggled to breathe but couldn't catch her breath.

 _It's pierced my lung_ , she thought absently before he let go, sending her falling to the ground.

"Disappointing," he mused staring down at her. "I'd hoped this would have been more difficult."

"Then you, can leave," she rasped, struggling for air.

"Oh I'm afraid not," he said settling back into her throne. "I'm afraid I squeezed a bit too tight. You will die unless tended to. But who will tend to you Sarah? Who will come to your rescue? I'm interested to find out so I think I will wait."

"Nobody is coming," she hissed, each word a knife in her side.

"Wrong again," he said wagging a finger at her. "Our guest of honour should be here right about...now."

He gestured to the window and Sarah could make out something flying toward her.

"Jareth," she whispered hopefully.

"What was that?" the King demanded. But Sarah was instead focused on the dark figure that flying through the open window. The raven landed and transformed into a redheaded woman.

"Jemara," Ryuoth beamed from Sarah's throne. "How kind of you to join us. I believe you know our gracious host."

Sarah took in Jem's appearance. She was used to seeing the woman in long skirts and simple blouses. Instead she appeared in all black, a breastplate on her chest and a tattered black cape flying behind her. Her hair was stacked wild and shot through with streaks of white, gold, and black. If possible, her face looked less human and more fearsome than Sarah had ever seen it. She had painted her eyes like Jareth's and while she wore no weaponry, Ryuoth's abuse had told Sarah in no uncertain terms how little their kind needed it.

"Tsk tsk tsk Sarah, we just spoke of this, a good queen stands to greet her guests."

He lifted a hand and pulled her upward. Like she was no more than a puppet and he held all the strings.

"Stop," Jem shouted.

"As you wish," he said dropping his hand. Sarah fell and crumpled to the ground.

Jem rushed over to her. Sarah felt her take her face between her gloved hands. She was having a hard time focusing, everything was getting distorted and fuzzy. Her hands, the leather - they felt so much like Jareth's. The pain was starting to ebb and if Sarah closed her eyes she could pretend they were back in her dream. Lying lazily in bed, she felt herself drift toward unconsciousness. Then she could hold him, he would be there. They could be there.

"Sarah I need you to focus," Jem whispered in her ear.

"Jareth," she mumbled back.

"I know," she said quieting her. "But Sarah, listen. Look at me."

"Sarah opened her eyes and met two icy blue ones. Just like his.

"Sarah, I need you to Stop."

Jem put her hands on Sarah's shoulders and Sarah felt herself go completely still. She couldn't talk, she couldn't move, she was still in pain but no longer felt like she was going to pass out.

"Come now sister, Father was very clear that we must share our toys."

Ryuoth extended his hand back toward Sarah. She braced herself for the inevitable snap of another bone.

"Oh very clever," he said quietly when nothing happened. "But she cannot exist like that forever."

Jem stood up and turned back around to face her brother.

"Ryuoth," she said calmly.

His face twisted in anger.

"How dare you speak it so openly. And in front of a human?"

"Ryuoth," she continued as if she hadn't heard him. "Leave now. You are not prepared for a fight. If you try and fight me now, you will lose. Go home; I will not follow."

"You cannot touch me either. All we have to fight over is our sweet little friend here. Of course, I could always bring your charming brother home. See what games he's good for."

"Then do it brother," Jem replied evenly. "I'd like to see you face the Goblin King head on. You're good, but is he better? I confess I have wondered."

Ryuoth's eye twitched in annoyance.

"You know my terms. Your brother can come home today if you like, just as soon as you get rid of those selfish delusions. Is being right really more important than your brother's entire existence?"

"I will not be goaded into submission any more than you will Ryuoth. The stalemate stands. You already have my brother, this girl is just his replacement. Kill her and another will appear just as surely. And another, and another. How long are you prepared to wage war against the Goblin Throne? I love my brother Ryuoth, you know this. I loved my mother and the man who raised me. But they are both dead now. I do not love the Goblin Throne. So repeatedly killing their monarchs does nothing more than irritate the Arid Lands into a situation where they have no choice but to go to war. You want to fight me and my supporters Ryuoth. Not a whole territory."

"And you can honestly tell me this girl is not on your side? Actively working to return the Goblin King?"

"I can," Jem said evenly. "Sarah has repeatedly informed me she is not interested in helping us. In fact, her prime directive when she found herself Underground was to try and kill the Goblin King."

"Then return her home," Ryuoth thundered.

"To what point or purpose?" Jem shouted back. "There must always be Goblin Throne."

"She has declared him her husband! She obviously cares for him!"

"Ryuoth, consider the situation. How could Jareth be her husband? They haven't seen each other since she was a child. You know this."

"Then bring me another champion," he demanded.

"You know as well as I that the last champion died over a century ago. Besides, why would any of them be preferable to her? Who is she to you Ryuoth? Are you truly that threatened by a slip of a human girl? Whose wrists and ribs you broke with barely a flick of your hand? What threat could she possibly pose to you? She is a joke, a placeholder, a farce. If she appeared at court as she did before you today she'd be laughed out of the room. She has no training, no knowledge of our ways. What do you expect her to do? March an army to your door? Do you really feel so threatened by a human led army of goblins? I'd worry more about your own generals if that is the case."

Sarah listened to Jem's words, unable to refute them even if physically could. She knew Jem was only saying them to protect her from Ryuoth, but she was right, she was useless.

"Do not insult me sister," he hissed. "Of course she is nothing."

"Well then I'm glad we've settled that." Jem said returning to her pleasant demeanour. "So how would you like to proceed?"

"Alison," he replied sharply.

"What of her?" Sarah noticed Jem's body tense slightly at the mention of the name.

"I should have killed her when I had the chance," he said, tugging at his gloves.

"Maybe," Jem nodded. "But she is lost to both of us now."

Ryuoth stood up and walked toward the door.

"You are a bastard and will always be a bastard. No amount of magic will change that. Just as no amount of magic will save your brother from my wrath. Make no mistake, he will suffer for this ... distraction."

"If you touch a hair on his head," Jem said darkly. "Erasure will be a kindness after what I will do to you."

Ryuoth turned around and smiled.

"Sweet sister, erasure _was_ my kindness."

He slammed the door behind him and was gone.

"Sarah!" Jem cried rushing to her side. Sarah was still unable to speak, suspended in position by Jem. "Forward," Jem spoke quietly, laying her hands on Sarah's shoulders.

Sarah felt as though she had been snapped like a rubber band back into reality. While she'd been stuck in place, the pain had been there but it had moved to a dull ache. When Jem removed whatever spell she'd put over her, all of it came rushing back and rushing out as Sarah retched blood all over the throne room floor.

"I'm getting you out of here," Jem declared. Jem lifted Sarah up like she was no more than a doll and carried her to the window. "I'm sorry for this part, but it's the fastest way there."

"What are you talking about," she mumbled back. It didn't matter anymore, all she wanted was to take a nap.

"No sleeping Sarah," Jem said seriously. "Stay awake, do not close your eyes. Actually wait, no, do close your eyes but don't go to sleep."

"What?"

But Jem didn't bother responding before jumping out the throne room window.

The only reason Sarah didn't scream was that the hole in her lung was making it hurt to breathe let alone any sound louder than a whisper.

 _Well if I was going to die anyways_ , she thought to herself, _this_ was _the fastest way_.

She took Jem's advice and closed her eyes, bracing for impact. But none came. Sarah opened one eye slowly. She was amazed to see Jem was still carrying her, but they were flying through the air, above the Labyrinth. Jem's eyes were open but she was muttering something under her breath. Sarah thought better than to interrupt her while they were literally _flying through the air_ in case she lost concentration and dropped them.

Then without warning they started towards the ground and gently came to a stop just outside of Jem's cottage.

Jem didn't let go of Sarah, instead carrying her as she rushed her inside.

"I can fix the punctured lung and set the bones in only a few minutes," she said quickly. "But it's going to hurt. Unless you're okay with taking some of my medicinal herbs but I understand if you don't want to given what happened last time."

"I don't care," Sarah said faintly.

Jem laid Sarah out on her bed and then ran to the kitchen, throwing jars and pots and pans everywhere.

Sarah looked back up to Jem's ceiling.

The stars. There was something about the stars she had to remember. Or would need to remember. Something.

"Here take this," Jem said rushing back over, tilting a mug of something dark and foul smelling into her mouth. "Drink it all, it may make you woozy."

Sarah gratefully drank the whole thing as Jem watched her nervously.

"The stars," Sarah repeated when she finished.

"Yes yes, watch the stars," Jem said brushing her off.

Sarah tried to explain but the room was getting dimmer. She'd rest now, explain in the morning.

She was back in the dark room. Only it wasn't dark anymore, not completely. A small tiny stream of light was coming through a hole in the ceiling. Sarah looked up and saw the moon and a constellation she didn't recognize.

"A triangle," she whispered, tracing the three visible stars together.

"When is a triangle not a triangle?" he asked.

"I hate your riddles," she didn't bother to look for him this time. It didn't matter, it wasn't real anyways.

"Three is a powerfully magical number Sarah," he replied. "But when is three not three?"

"I don't understand you here," she said. "I never know what you're saying. It's useless."

"Look there," he answered. "Do you see it?"

"It's pitch dark in here I can't see anything," she responded. But then she looked closer. The faint moonlight coming through had made it possible to just barely make out a dark creature, hunched into a ball in the corner.

Sarah's heart sped up. "What is that?" she asked barely above a whisper. She wanted to approach it and get a better look, but something told her not to.

"Why did you not fear the beast?"

"Ludo?" Sarah said, confused. "He wasn't a beast. He was just...Ludo."

"But before he was your friend who was he?"

"I don't know," Sarah said, flopping down to the ground in frustration. "Why don't you tell me?"

"What was he?"

"I don't know!" she shouted, not caring if she woke the creature. It didn't matter anyways, it was just a dream.

"Think Sarah!" he shouted back. He had never raised his voice to her here. It startled her.

"Scared! Alone! Attacked! I don't know! He could have been with his herd, I never asked. I never asked any of them," she cried.

"Will you free him?" he replied, his voice calm and even again.

"Ludo?" she guessed, "I already freed him."

She heard a low chuckle and felt hands on her shoulders.

"You're getting closer. I am sorry about your wrists"

"My wrists?" she looked down at her arms. They seemed fine to her.

"And you are not, nor have you ever been, _useless_ Sarah."

"Why did you say that?" she asked, increasingly confused.

"Because I could not come," he replied darkly, "and I refuse to let that happen again."

"Come where?" this was just getting more confusing and she was getting nowhere.

"But you must remember soon."

"Jareth," she turned around and reached for him. But grasped only at air.

"This may hurt," he said in her ear again behind her.

She didn't even have a chance to question him before she heard a scream. It took her a minute to realize the scream was hers.


	10. Convex and Concave

" _You know that place between sleep and awake, that place where you still remember dreaming? That's where I'll always love you. That's where I'll be waiting."_

 _-_ Peter Pan

* * *

She was back in the cottage and Jem was crouching next to her, holding a knife. This time, Sarah knew she was screaming.

"Whoa!" Jem said immediately dropping the knife. "Stop screaming! Stop screaming! You're fine, you're safe, I've got you."

"You've got a knife!" Sarah said shuffling away from her. She looked down and realized she could move her hands again. Her wrists were completely healed. The only indication they'd been broken was some particularly gruesome bruising and discoloration. Her bloody and torn nightgown had been abandoned completely and lay tattered in a corner. But her ribs felt a bit tender, but ultimately fine.

"I was just finishing when you woke up, I didn't mean to scare you," Jem said carefully, making a show of putting the knife away. "I had to get some of your blood."

Sarah noticed that there was a gash on her shoulder that hadn't been there before.

"I needed it to heal your injuries. Blood for blood. I didn't think a cut was a big deal in the grand scheme of things. But you're fine now."

"That's a stupid way of healing," Sarah muttered rubbing her shoulder. She'd cut right through the mark he'd left. Sarah wondered if Jem knew where it came from.

"Well it makes more sense if you grow up around it. Most people keep a couple vials of their own blood on reserve in case they're injured. I just didn't have any to work with for you and, before you ask, it has to be blood freely given so the blood from your wounds was useless."

"I didn't give you permission did I?" she asked confused.

"You did, you were lying there and I asked you if I could take your blood to heal you and you said yes. You were pretty out of it thanks to those painkillers, but it was obviously enough."

"I must have been talking in my sleep," Sarah said examining her wrists again. Physically they were fine, but her mind was still trying to catch up. She could still hear the crack of her bones and see the indifference on his face. She really was no more than a bug to them. How she could have dreamed that she'd be able to take them down with just gumption and a sword?

"He could have stopped me anytime he wanted - couldn't he?" she whispered.

Jem nodded in assent. They both knew which he she was referring to.

"So why didn't he?" Sarah demanded. "Why did he let me think I won?"

"Because you did win Sarah," Jem assured her. "Jareth is, above all else fair. He gave you a fair shot to win your brother back. Not all goblin kings are so generous."

"But it wasn't fair," Sarah retorted. "He was interfering in my every move. He sent large machinery after me, stole three hours of my life, and tried to trap me in a hallucination. What part of that sounds fair to you?"

"All of it," Jem said with a shrug. "You forget Sarah, fair doesn't mean equal. It's not like you were without help either. You made your own rules in that Labyrinth and you used it to win. Jareth did the same thing, and he lost. Paper covers rock, allies beat illusions. Now after you won, that's a different story. Jareth couldn't touch you even if he wanted to. But again, that was your doing with your words."

Sarah sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"Ryuoth..." she started but was unable to finish. She'd remember how it felt for the rest of her life. The way her ribs crumbled just because he willed it so.

"I know," Jem said sliding next to Sarah on the bed. "I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner. If I'd known he was coming I'd have been there instantly. You owe a debt to Sir Didymus. He alerted me immediately.

"How?" Sarah asked confused. "He doesn't even know who you are or where to find you."

"No," Jem corrected. "He forgot. Just like everyone else in the kingdom 'forgets'. I helped him remember after our chat the other day. I thought there might come a time when you'd need me."

"Okay, while I don't like the level that you feel comfortable meddling in my life, I'm grateful you were there," Sarah said sincerely. There was no doubt in her mind that Ryuoth would have let her bleed or suffocate to death - whichever came first, had Jem not showed up.

"Yes, and I should apologize for the things I said about you to Ryuoth. The best thing that I could do for you was to make you seem as small and insignificant as Ryuoth believes you are."

"I felt pretty small and insignificant just having to stand there while he broke my bones and hoping someone would help me," she said under her breath.

"Sarah, you are the opposite of small and insignificant, without you, we're all screwed," Jem said with a weak smile.

"Easy to say when you can literally fly," she replied bitterly.

"I can't fly unless I'm in my raven form," Jem chuckled. "I just used a bit of elemental magic with the wind. But I'm not an elemental so I was really pushing it taking us here."

"Why didn't we just, you know," Sarah said wiggling her fingers.

Jem laughed again. "I can't dissipate within the bounds of the Goblin City. Only the reigning monarch can. Why do you think Ryuoth had to leave by the front door?"

"Dramatics mostly," she said, rolling her eyes. "But I gotta be honest, I hate that guy."

"Yeah well, me too," Jem said with a sigh.

"Who's Allison?" Sarah asked, trying to change the subject.

Jem visibly stiffened.

"It is of no importance," she said dismissively.

"Well how about you tell me who Allison is and I'll tell you about my latest dreams," Sarah bargained.

"Okay," Jem said raising an eyebrow in approval. "Allison is a human woman who lived a long time ago. She is of no importance anymore as she is dead."

"Is she another champion?" Sarah asked, curious. Was Allison the last Sarah Williams? A roving rotation of girls who had beat the Labyrinth?

"No, she was a nurse," Jem smiled slightly. "and she was amazing."

Sarah's heart tensed in her chest.

"Were she and Jareth ever?" she asked, unsure of what she wanted the answer to be.

"Oh no," Jem said wrinkling her nose. "No, Alison was mine."

"Oh," Sarah said simply as the undeniable pangs of jealousy faded. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"It's fine," Jem said waving a hand. "Sometimes I think people forget that I have lost and sacrificed things too."

"People or just me?" Sarah said wryly.

"Sarah … I don't want to be queen." Jem sighed. "I've never wanted to be queen. I was perfectly happy to live out the rest of my life Aboveground. I had a life up there too. I had friends, a home, and I had _her_. I didn't get a choice any more than you did. I have to be queen because I can't write off an entire world just because it's inconvenient to me. Which is exactly what would happen if I buried my head in the sand and pretended none of this was happening. There's no one else to take my place Sarah. It's just me. So I'm doing the best I can to save everyone from your little dwarf friend, to the pixies in the Marsh Kingdom, to the aggravating fire spikes in the Redlands and yes, that includes my brother. But it also includes you, you're a part of this world too Sarah."

"What happened to her?" Sarah asked quietly. " Did Ryuoth..."

"No," Jem shook her head. "She died of old age. Happy and peaceful, surrounded by her loved ones and not me."

"You let her go," Sarah said understanding.

"I didn't have a choice. She contracted Typhoid and was dying. To save her I had to bring her Underground. But I could not go with her. Ryuoth was too dangerous, he'd find me instantly. I gave her to Jareth, wiped her memory of me, and made sure she was well taken care of for the rest of her life. She was happy here and lived another hundred years. When Ryuoth found out about her it was too late. She couldn't help him find me even if she wanted to. He threatened Jareth that he'd kill her just to cause me pain but Jareth made it clear that he would take it as a personal attack and rise to war. Ryuoth wasn't prepared to tip his hand so easily and she died shortly thereafter of old age."

"I'm sorry," Sarah replied, but it seemed so empty.

"It's alright," Jem said with a shrug. "I had no business falling in love with a human in the first place."

"Is that why you're pushing me toward Jareth so much?" Sarah asked gently.

"No, I'm pushing you toward Jareth because I think you both deserve to be happy."

"There's another part of my dreams," Sarah admitted. "A part I didn't mention before. Just now, when I was asleep, I went back there. It's always a pitch black room and I can never see him but I know he's there. He talks to me, always in these weird cryptic ways but it's different from the other dreams. I can move, talk, and I'm in control of myself. I can yell at him if I want."

Jem's brows knitted together in concern.

"Sarah, you weren't asleep just now."

"Yes I was," she assured her. "I was dreaming."

"No," Jem said shaking her head. "You were totally out of it, and your eyes were closed, but I could talk to you."

"I must have been talking in my sleep."

"I was positive you were awake," Jem said, doubt creeping into her voice. "But maybe I was wrong."

"Yeah sorry," Sarah said with a shrug. "But I was definitely dreaming."

"Alright, well, do you remember what Jareth said?"

"He said 'when is a triangle not a triangle'," Sarah said rolling her eyes. "Everything he says is cryptic nonsense like that. It's as if he's testing me, just like the Labyrinth. Solve the riddles, win the prize."

"Possibly," Jem said considering. "When is a triangle not a triangle?"

"Yeah, there was a set of three stars in the sky, a constellation that looked like a triangle and I said that out loud and he responded."

"A constellation isn't three stars though," Jem said confused. "It's many more than that. Can you show me what you were looking at with my ceiling?"

Sarah looked up at Jem's enchanted ceiling. She couldn't see her triangle between the stars and space dust.

"Sorry no," Sarah said dejectedly. "It was just a dream, different than the others but a dream is a dream."

"A dream is never just a dream with Jareth, I don't know what he's doing or if he's doing anything at all, but we're missing something here," Jem said with a frown.

"Well...what do I do now?" Sarah asked.

"Same thing we were doing before but faster. We bring Jareth back, overthrow the psychopath and save the kingdom. All in a day's work," Jem said with a grin.

Sarah didn't feel so sure. Jareth almost seemed comical next to Ryuoth's cruelty. The trials he'd put her through, she thought she could beat him. She didn't think she could beat Ryuoth and the idea of being in the same room with him again - Sarah didn't want to think about it. Looking at her bruised wrists, it would be easy to pretend it had never happened. She was healed no trouble in less time than it would take to get through an ER waiting room - but to forget was to let herself be naively underprepared again. She didn't doubt Ryuoth when he'd said it was only a warning.

Jem noticed her rubbing at her wrists. She took Sarah's hands in hers.

"I'm sorry what he did to you Sarah," she whispered.

"I'm sorry for what he did to you too. At least my bones healed fast," she said dismissively.

"It's not the bones I'm concerned about, but I'm glad you understand just who we're dealing with. This isn't a song and dance about magical hoodoo mischief. Ryuoth is not here to play games."

"Yes well, he made that abundantly clear this afternoon. So how am I supposed to go back to that castle and sleep soundly knowing he could come in at any time and snap my neck without even touching me?"

"We just have to trust that he won't, I don't think he will, he doesn't see you worth the effort and if he'd actually wanted you dead he probably would have killed you this afternoon. Get in his way and he'll definitely kill you, but for now I think now that he has confirmation I'm here, and that I'm interested in your well-being, he'll probably start mobilizing against us. But that'll take time. Not everyone has a ragtag group of misfits to besiege a city at a moment's notice," she said with a wry grin. "Go back to the castle, get some sleep if you can. We can regroup in the morning."

Sarah didn't go back to the castle. She didn't want to have to walk through the throne room right now. She hoped someone had cleaned up her blood from the floor. The mystery servants that Sarah had never seen, the same ones who sent her food up at the appropriate intervals. Who made her bed and kept her clothes neat and clean. Why had she never bothered finding out who they were? Why was she so content to let everything be done for her?

As she wandered through the woods she took a hard look at herself. Sure this wasn't exactly a typical situation but she'd let it go too far. Her greatest failure as usual, was her impulsive bullheaded need to always be right. Why did she think making herself a warrior to kill Jareth was the path her life needed to be on? Why did she let it continue for five years? Why didn't she try any other form of communication before immediately jumping on the crazy murder train? She'd even given Ryuoth a chance to speak - but she hadn't given Jareth one?

" _He just gets under my skin"_ , she thought, kicking a nearby root. She looked over and saw a red petal underneath it. She reached down to pick it up. A rose petal, but what was it doing here?

When she looked up she noticed a second path had appeared. Curious, Sarah started towards it. As she walked the branches and hedges parted way for her, reforming into an archway. As Sarah passed through, the archway sealed itself shut with thick foliage.

"That should probably concern me," she said to no one except the forest itself. "But good news for you mystery threat, I'm fresh out of rats asses to give so I'm just gonna ignore that and hope it's nothing."

"Ah it won't hurts ya," a gruff voice from behind her replied. "Jus' doesn't like letting anyone wander in here cept those that are supposed to."

"Hoggle!" Sarah cried happily, turning around to give the dwarf a hug. To her surprise, he let her. "What are you doing here?"

"Well I'm the gardener ain't I?" said Hoggle gesturing around the clearing.

Sarah only needed to take a quick look around before she realized what he was talking about. They were surrounded by dozens upon dozens of rosebushes. Roses in every colour - white, pink, yellow, and even some colours Sarah had never seen before; green, black, bright blue, silver. But the red roses overshadowed them all. There had to be thousands of red roses blooming in this small hidden garden, and they were lovelier than any she'd ever seen.

"These are thousand year roses," Hoggle said as he spritzed the petals with his spray can. "They bloom for a thousand years but are poisonous. You prick your finger on that stem you'll be dead before you hit the ground. Used to be my job to grind up the fallen petals and turn them into dust. Used to be that the Goblin throne would throw it into the eyes of their enemies. Blinding them - fae or human it don't matter. Only dwarves are immune thanks to our thick skin."

"Which makes you the perfect gardener in a kingdom lacking in dwarves," Sarah said tucking her hands into her pockets to avoid the temptation.

"You've done a great job with these flowers, they're the most beautiful roses I've ever seen."Hoggle just grunted but Sarah could see he was pleased by her compliment. "I'm sorry if I scared you earlier," she tried. "I'm a little out of my depth here."

He grunted again in response and Sarah took that as her cue to continue. "I thought I'd lost you," she told him.

He shrugged. "I don't really have anywhere else to go."

"Well that makes two of us."

"So what are you gonna do about Ryuoth?"

"I'm going to find Jareth. It's time I let go of my old prejudices. We're stronger together." She hadn't been trying hard enough before. She was happy to keep dream Jareth for herself, but that wasn't fair to him. It wasn't fair to Jem and it sure wasn't fair to all the people like Hoggle who deserved to live without fear. "Will you help me?" she asked him.

"Course," he answered. "Seems like that's what I do. Helpin' you."

"If I pluck a rose will I fall into a deep sleep only to waken at true love's kiss or something?" she joked, looking at the roses.

"Well I ain't kissin' ya," Hoggle said mildly alarmed. "You don't even have a beard."

Sarah laughed and stretched a hand out towards the roses. They were ... very enticing.

"I think...I need a rose," she said withdrawing her hand. She tore off a strip of what remained of her nightgown and wrapped her hand in it. Hesitating only a moment before plucking a red rose from the bush.

"Careful!" Hoggle shouted in alarm.

"It's alright look," Sarah said presenting the rose between the cloth.

Hoggle rolled his eyes and grabbed the rose between the cloth. "Next time, ask. Now come on."

"As long as I have you as my guide Hoggle. Are you gonna lead me to the castle?" she said with a wry smile.

Hoggle missed the joke and simply started on his way. "Well someone's gotta."

* * *

A/N: Just so we're clear, in my world most every fae is bisexual, and yes that includes Jareth. Quick little interlude here, nothing, nothing tra la la.


End file.
